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Welcome to the ECL ‘25 season and the NHL 25 competitive year! Hey SportsGamers! NHL 25 is just around the corner and if I've done my math right this means we're embarking on the the 10th year of the ECL! We started back at the end of 2015 with ECL 1 in NHL 16 and are coming into the 19th season of the ECL with ECL '25: Winter. It's been a wild ride and I want to thank everyone who's been a part of it - many still around since day 1! Let's start with some great news - the prize pool for the ECL ‘25 Winter season will be 24 000 EUR and the ECL Elite Finals will be returning to the big spotlights - featured on the Assembly Winter 2025 main stage! Keep reading to find out more! Before we go any further, if you’re reading this and find yourself wondering “What is the ECL?”, or you're looking for a blast from the past listing of all ECL Champions so far you can find an article about that here. One of the more frequent requests from our community every year has been transparency in terms of upcoming plans. The benefits are clear, as it will help teams with preparation, strategizing, and assembling rosters, and of course, help players plan their holidays, trips, or other activities without sacrificing the opportunity to partake in the eHockey season to the fullest. So, without further ado, here is what the NHL 25 competitive year looks like for Europe. Please keep in mind there are still lots of details being put into place, but we want to provide as good of an overview on the timing of the ECL ‘25: Winter and Spring seasons, as well as the National Championships, that are played in between the ECL seasons. ECL '25 Competitive Year ECL '25: Pre-season The ECL ‘25: Pre-season tournament will kick off on October 17th, giving teams the ability to get right into action, get familiar with NHL 25, and test their line-ups against teams of equal skill levels. The Pre-season will consist of the following groups: Elite & Pro - Sign up now! Lite & Core - Sign up now! Neo & Newcomers - Sign up now! The best news? You can sign up right now using the links above! Qualifiers The ECL ‘25: Winter - Lite & Pro Qualifiers are scheduled to kick off approximately between October 21st and November 1st. For this reason, we suggest that teams participating in the qualifiers skip the Pre-season tournament. We will get into the specifics within a couple weeks. ECL '25: Winter Season The ECL ‘25: Winter - Regular Season will start on November 17th and be completed just in time to wind down for Christmas and the New Year. The last round of games before the holiday break will be played on December 20st. The ECL ‘25: Winter - Playoffs will start after the holidays, on January 3rd. Most of the ECL ‘25: Winter divisions will be completed by the end of January, whereas the date for the Elite Finals is still locked in for Thursday February 20th at Assembly Winter! National Leagues After the end of the ECL ‘25: Winter season, it’s time to battle in the National Leagues, such as the CSCL, eHockey SM, GCL, SCL & WECL. Many of the details are still work-in-process, but rest assured weeks 6-14 are reserved for National League play. ECL '25: Spring Season The ECL ‘25: Spring season will commence with the Lite and Pro Qualifiers in weeks 12-14. The regular season will be played weeks 15-19, and the playoffs will be played after that, with most divisions done before midsummer and the Lite Champions being decided just after. Please keep in mind that there is always a possibility for the timeline to change and we will be keeping a close eye on e.g. the IIHF World Championship schedules to avoid collisions with those games as well as possible, as we know many of our viewers and players love to watch the games. Early Bird Offer on Player and Team Licenses Below you’ll find the pricing of the team and player licenses for ECL ‘25. Starting today and for the next two weeks (until September 19th), you can pick up the ECL ‘25: Winter Team license and the ECL ‘25: Player License (Winter + Spring) for the Super Early Bird pricing listed below. After that, we will offer a slightly elevated Early Bird price from September 20th - October 19th, and finally, the regular pricing from October 20th onward. PURCHASE YOUR ECL '25 LICENSES HERE For those of you participating in the qualifiers and unsure which division your team will play in for the ECL ‘25: Winter season, you can still take advantage of this offer; Purchase the Super Early Bird license for the division you are qualifying for and if your team is unsuccessful in the mission, we will refund you the difference to the Super Early Bird price for the division your team ends up in. For example, if you enter the qualifiers for the Lite division, purchase the Super Early Bird Lite license. If your team doesn’t qualify for the Lite division, you will play in the Core division and we will refund you the difference - in this example: 100 EUR. The ECL Neo division does not require a team license, however, we are introducing an ECL Neo Player license at the cost of 10 EUR per season. This will enable us to improve our coverage of the division, cover the finals broadcast and offer access to the two formats: the ECL Cup & the 4v4 tournament. Read more about them below. Please refer to this ECL Ranking in order to understand which teams are eligible to sign up for each division. Introducing two new formats - ECL Cup & ECL 4v4 We've been cooking up some extra fun to be had during the season and we can't take all the credit, as there have definitely been suggestions coming in from the community. ECL Cup is a knock-out type tournament that is played with your ECL 6v6 team. The Cup is played as a single elimination bracket populated by ECL teams from all divisions. The bracket is played at a slower pace and the action will go on for weeks, but if you lose - you're out! A bit dramatic perhaps, but oh boy are we expecting some drama! ECL 4v4 is exactly what it sounds like - a tournament played in the 4v4 mode of the game. All positions are to be filled with human-controlled players. We understand this game mode might not be for everyone, so the 4v4 tournament will not be a requirement for anyone to enter. ECL 1v1 is also back and we're excited to announce that we will be seeing some structural changes for the upcoming season, which we'll tell you more about in the near future. We'll have more info about all of these fun events in the coming weeks, but you may absolutely feel free to speculate and come with your wishes in the comments below, as there could still be time for adjustments! New License perks We're excited to share that we will be able to offer the following perks to ECL '25 license owners: Assembly Winter 2025 Tickets Limited Time Offer: Get a free ticket to Assembly Winter 2025 for Thursday, February 20th! Come and enjoy the ECL ‘25: Winter - Elite Finals and hang out with the community. Once you’ve purchased your license, fill out this form to apply for your free ticket. Act fast—tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis. We would also love to see attendees from outside of Finland join us for the Finals event. If you’re interested, please fill out this form so we can assist you with travel advice and answer any questions you may have. Stay tuned for more news about Assembly Winter 2025 and read more about the event itself at https://assembly.org/en/events/winter25. SportsGamer Health & Performance Program Get premium access to the SportsGamer Health & Performance Program, free for an extended period to help you reach your peak performance. Introducing the SportsGamer Health Program, a cutting-edge wellness platform with content specifically designed for gamers. While the platform offers a comprehensive range of workouts, home exercises, and courses, it also includes specialized content to boost your gaming performance. All materials are crafted by leading fitness professionals, ensuring you get the best in physical training. The program features gamification elements, making it fun and engaging to stay active on the platform. Additionally, it includes a dedicated section of short lectures from professional mental coaches, helping you dive deeper into individual and team-based approaches to gaming. This blend of physical and mental training ensures that you can stay healthy and sharp, both in and out of the game We’re excited to share more details with you as we approach the start of the new season. In the meantime, we’re seeking volunteers to test out the platform and its content as we continue to develop it. We’re looking for a small, diverse group of people of all ages, nationalities, and physical conditions. So, whatever your situation, if this sounds interesting to you, please fill out this form to apply. New Initiative - Social Program We’re committed to growing NHL gaming and esports! As part of a new initiative, we want to inspire teams and players to focus on their social media presence. We’re excited to showcase the best goals, biggest hits, and epic fails, and highlight them across SportsGamer broadcasts, programs, and social platforms. Introducing the ECL Social Program – designed to spotlight the best content from around the league and reward those who go the extra mile. While we’ll be focusing on video content, exceptional overall social media coverage is also appreciated. Stay tuned for more details and specifics on how you can get involved! Rule Changes & Community Opinion We would like to raise two items up for a community vote and open up the floor for discussion. Zone & Superstar Abilities - Yay or nay? For the ECL ‘24: Spring season we decided to ban a selection of Zone & Superstar Abilities. As NHL 25 is a new release, and we haven't had a chance to test it out yet, our initial instinct is to start with a clean slate and not ban any abilities until the community gets to know the new game and has a chance to make up its mind about whether the abilities are working or not. While we have preliminarily set our minds on not banning any abilities for the first season, we welcome the discussion and would love to hear your opinion. You can discuss player abilities here. Are there some rule-related changes we’ve missed? Now is your chance to discuss and suggest what type of changes you would like to see in the rulebook. Sign up NOW for the ECL '25: Pre-season tournament and stay tuned for the official kick-off of the ECL ’25: Winter Signups, launching mid-September! Edit: Added clarification to Qualifier date.