Kenu

We made several changes based on the community feedback, but not all requests are viable to accommodate. I appreciate your feedback. I understand what you value most might not completely align with our vision for the ECL.

In my opinion Elite, Pro, or even most Lite teams don't belong in Neo crushing teams, skewing the standings, stats and most importantly, ruining the experience of players who we want to give a pleasant entry into the ECL ecosystem. To clarify on the choice of the word try previously, it was indeed a vague choice of words. The try wording was used because previously we've made efforts to broadcast all finals and some of the teams haven't been able to adhere to the schedule that we were able to offer. What we can do better - if teams are dedicated to broadcasting - is to lock in and communicate the exact finals dates and requirements earlier.

Hey Gamers, It's been great to see the active discussion around the ECL, and that really goes to show that our community is passionate about this matter. We're thankful for all the feedback we've gotten through comments and private messages, and your feedback is truly appreciated. We have been running the ECL since December 2015. I’ve personally been involved with the NHL community since I was 12 years old, creating (popular & free) mods for the PC version of the game 2000-2009 and later moving on to creating leagues and tournaments. In other words, I’ve been heavily involved with the NHL series for 25 years now. As my wife would tell me “all I want in life from you is to pay as much attention to me as you do your community”. That perhaps says something about my devotion to the game and what we do (and that I should schedule more date nights). It’s understandable that players and teams have gotten used to a certain standard during the past few years and it is easy to take something for granted that you’ve “always” had access to. For years we’ve - together as a community - pushed through some of the naysayers regarding what can be achieved with the competitive scene in this game. “Nobody wants to play on a lower level” was said before the introduction of divisions in the ECL. “Nobody will ever make money playing this game” has been thrown around for as long as I can remember. Sure - not many can fully support themselves playing NHL, but our goal has always been to support that dream, as well as develop a friendly environment where players of all skill levels can join to hone their skills. Some will play just for fun and others will make it their goal to reach the highest trophies and rewards. We’ve come a long way to enable both professionals and amateurs to reach their goals. This remains our mission. As we've stated before, monetizing SportsGamer operations has been a long time coming already. With the increased workload and growing ambitions, running an operation with the only source of income being outside investment is not sustainable. Furthermore, while we would very much like for SportsGamer to be a profitable operation, the truth is that we have been losing money for a long while now. For many years we have compensated what the ECL loses by working on other projects - while sometimes criticized for not only focusing on the ECL - to generate enough money to cover the losses, while not pocketing any of the cash ourselves. As the league and our ambitions grow (not to mention our skillsets and families), so does the risk involved with taking on these projects. How many are prepared to risk 50k on a free tournament? As for some of the calculations surrounding the ECL ’23 Winter season that have been going around, they fail to take into account a few key factors. Firstly, we are expecting a lower team amount for ECL '23 Winter, mainly due to migration to next-generation consoles. Secondly, none of the costs related to website upkeep and development, admin work, writing, broadcasting or hosting live events have been included in the calculations. This makes the bottom line look drastically different from what we are seeing at the end of the ECL year. We want to be transparent with our plans to grow and develop the ECL both on the ultra-competitive side, and the hobbyist side. We are committed to using 100% of the license fees into the ECL, including but not limited to prize pools, operations, broadcasts, live productions and promoting the league. Out of respect for the privacy of our creators, and because of several business reasons, I won’t be sharing the numbers for each category, but I have listed some of the main categories of costs of running the ECL. There are many other costs in running a business, but below I’ve focused purely on the direct costs of the ECL. Website and data hosting Equipment Software licenses Broadcasts Art Social media & YouTube Administrative work Prize Pool Trophies Live finals Web development Taxes Advertising Based on your feedback, we have decided to take the following measures: Each team can name up to 3 backup players (outside of the primary 6) that can help the team out and play up to 10 games without having to own the player license. The ECL ‘23 Player License can be purchased during the season if a backup wants to play more games than expected. ECL Neo will remain free to play, with no player license required to compete, however To uphold the integrity of ECL Neo as the beginner level, we reserve the right to deny teams to participate in cases where they are clearly above the amateur level, as it could significantly impact the experience of what ECL Neo is intended for. The ECL ‘23 Player License can be purchased by an ECL Neo player if they want to participate in ECL 1v1, benefit from the additional advantages that come with the license (more on this later), or simply as a form of supporting the league. An additional tier of prizing has been added to the ECL Core division to extend the number of prize winning teams from 8 to 16. Wishes to add better content for the ECL Lite and Core divisions will be addressed by improving the quality of articles and coverage. We will be following all licensed divisions closely in our channels and sharing coverage on our social media. If you would like to contribute to creating content for these divisions, please contact @jahajaha93. We have heard your concerns regarding the response time and efficiency regarding support and League Administrative (LA) cases. Therefore we are committing to the following for all paid levels of ECL: 24 hour response time for general support items and added coverage during gamedays between 17-22 CET to help address quick questions in a more efficient way. LA cases are handled within 2 business days. The suspension and verdict policy has been reworked to make quick decisions and in the case of suspensions, we will be handing out shorter suspensions quicker and longer suspensions are reserved to repeat offenders, which also can be handled quickly through this new policy. Finally, a brief comment on any outstanding prize payments that were mentioned in the discussion: We’ve previously reached out to all recipients of price payments per email from [email protected], and anyone who has taken the actions requested in this email has been paid. Please check your spam folder if you haven’t seen our email. If you can’t find the email and there is still something unresolved, please reach out to me by private message here on the forums, or Discord (Kenu#0001). On behalf of SportsGamer, Kenneth “Kenu” Lehtinen

Together with our community, we want to continue developing the ECL and this platform as a whole. The league has been active since 2015 and ran without profit every season. Since the start, we’ve grown from a 50 team single division into a five division league with around 300 active teams, which has led to the requirements of the team increasing. These changes allow us to focus on core operations and develop even further. This year, we have decided to make one of our community dreams come true with the World Finals. This is a substantial investment from our side, but we feel like now is the time to make that happen. It's understandable how it may appear on surface level like all of the costs are related to prize money. What is less apparent is the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes. When speaking about pure administrative work, the lower divisions take exponentially more effort to run, while Pro and Elite tend to operate more smoothly due to the experience of the teams and players in these divisions, and the lower number of teams involved.

Absolutely agree. Can you reach out to me on Discord (Kenu#0001) or a private message here and we’ll see what went wrong. The teams that provided the requested information should have been paid by now.

SportGamers, It's time to get another great season of ECL action going, and this time the stakes have been upped even more! The ECL Core division will serve as a stepping stone for your team into competitive virtual hockey in the best company around. Join the action now for lots of fun and memorable moments along the way! We have now launched the registration for the Core division of ECL '23 Winter. This article will feature all the information you need about participating and includes all the eligible teams. If you haven’t read our general information yet, we suggest you head over to our ECL ’23 Winter information article. Description This league is for those teams that are already familiar with the NHL game series and competitive play. The division features a full regular season with best-of-seven playoffs and a prize pool totalling up to 3500€. The Core division requires a team license of 100€ and can be purchased with a one time payment by the team captain. ECL Core: 128 teams Sign up without restrictions (but capped at 128) Regular season: 8 groups of 16 Playoffs: 64 teams Best-of-7 Gamedays: Tuesday Thursday Sunday ECL ‘23: Winter - Core Team License In order to play in ECL Core, the qualified teams need to purchase an ECL Core team license. Each player of the team also needs to have a valid ECL ‘23 Player License (see license description for backup exception). License fees will be allocated to fund prize pools and developing operations, such as our broadcasts, live productions and promoting the league. ECL '23 Winter: Core Schedule Registration period: 14.11-8.12.2022 Regular Season: 13.12.2022-19.1.2023 RO32: 22.-26.1.2023 RO16: 29.1-2.2.2023 Quarterfinals: 5.-9.2.2023 Semifinals: 12.-16.2.2023 Finals: 19.-23.2.2023 *If you're an existing team that wants to change names, simply sign up with the old name and contact support for the name change. If you're having issues with signing up overall, please contact support.

SportsGamers, It's time to get another great season of ECL action going, and this time the stakes have been upped even more! With up to 27 000€ in the prize pool across all divisions, now is the time to register your team for one of the biggest events of the NHL esports season! We have now launched the registration for the Elite division of ECL '23 Winter. This article will feature all the information you need about participating and includes all the eligible teams. If you haven’t read our general information yet, we suggest you head over to our ECL ’23 Winter information article. Description ECL Elite is the gold standard of European virtual hockey and with that also has the biggest prize pool and most visibility. The division features a full regular season with best-of-seven playoffs, broadcasts will be aired on every default gameday. The License fee for participation is 500€ for each team. ECL Elite: 16 teams Sign up: ECL Elite eligible teams Regular season: One group Playoffs: 8 teams Best-of-7 Gamedays: Monday Wednesday Thursday + Sunday Broadcasts Prize pool: Up to 13 000 € ECL ‘23: Winter - Elite Team License In order to play in ECL Elite, the qualified teams need to purchase an ECL Elite team license. Each player of the team also needs to have a valid ECL ‘23 Player License. License fees will be allocated to fund prize pools and developing operations, such as our broadcasts, live productions and promoting the league. ECL '23 Winter: Elite Schedule Registration period: 14.-30.11.2022 Regular Season: 12.12.2022-18.1.2023 Quarterfinals: 25.1-1.2.2023 Semifinals: 5-8.2.2023 Finals: 24.2.2023 (Live in Helsinki) *If you're an existing team that wants to change names, simply sign up with the old name and contact support for the name change. If you're having issues with signing up overall, please contact support. The following teams are eligible to register the Elite division:

SportsGamers, It's time to get another great season of ECL action going, and this time the stakes have been upped even more! With up to 27 000€ in the prize pool across all divisions, now is the time to register your team for one of the biggest events of the NHL esports season! We have now launched the registration for the Pro division of ECL '23 Winter. This article will feature all the information you need about participating and includes all the eligible teams. If you haven’t read our general information yet, we suggest you head over to our ECL ’23 Winter information article. Description ECL Winter Pro features a full regular season and best-of-seven playoffs. This season, the prize pool for the Pro division is 5500€. The ECL '23 Winter License is 300€ for each team. ECL Pro: 32 teams Sign up: ECL Pro eligible teams Open spots will be decided based on Qualifiers Regular season: Two groups Playoffs: 16 teams Best-of-7 Gamedays: Monday Tuesday Thursday ECL Pro License In order to play in ECL Pro, the qualified teams need to purchase an ECL Pro team license. Each player of the team also needs to have a valid ECL ‘23 Player License. License fees will be allocated to fund prize pools and developing operations, such as our broadcasts, live productions and promoting the league. ECL '23 Winter: Pro Schedule Registration period: 14.-30.11.2022 Qualifiers: 24.11.-7.12.2022 Regular Season: 12.2.2022-16.1.2023 RO16: 19.-24.1.2023 Quarterfinals: 26.-31.1.2023 Semifinals: 2.-7.2.2023 Finals: 12.-14.2.2023 *If you're an existing team that wants to change names, simply sign up with the old name and contact support for the name change. If you're having issues with signing up overall, please contact support The following teams are eligible to register the Pro division:

SportGamers, It's time to get another great season of ECL action going, and this time the stakes have been upped even more! With up to 28 000€ in the prize pool across all divisions, now is the time to register your team for one of the biggest events of the NHL esports season! We have now opened registrations for the Lite division of ECL '23 Winter! This article will let you know if your team is eligible for the Lite division this ECL '23 Winter and all the facts associated with participating. If you haven’t read our general information yet, we suggest you head over to our ECL ’23 Winter information article. Description ECL '23 Winter Lite will feature a full regular season, followed by best-of-seven playoffs. This season, the ECL Lite team license costs 200€ per team and can be purchased with a one time payment by the team captain. The ECL '23 Winter Lite division will feature a prize pool totalling up to 3620€. ECL Lite: 64 teams Sign up: ECL Lite eligible teams Open spots will be decided based on the Qualifiers Regular season: 4 Groups of 16 teams Playoffs: 32 teams Best-of-7 Gamedays: Tuesday Wednesday Sunday ECL ‘23 Winter Lite Team License In order to play in ECL '23: Winter - Lite, the qualified teams need to purchase an ECL Lite team license. Each player of the team also needs to have a valid ECL ‘23 Player License. License fees will be allocated to fund prize pools and developing operations, such as our broadcasts, live productions and promoting the league. ECL '23 Winter: Lite Schedule Registration period: 14.11-30.11.2022 Qualifiers: 24.11-8.12.2022 Regular Season: 13.12.2022-18.1.2023 RO32: 22.-25.1.2023 RO16: 29.1-1.2.2023 Quarterfinals: 5.-8.2.2023 Semifinals: 12.-15.2.2023 Finals: 19.-22.2.2023 *If you're an existing team that wants to change names, simply sign up with the old name and contact support for the name change. If you're having issues with signing up overall, please contact support The following teams are eligible to register for the Lite division:

SportsGamers, It's time to get another great season of ECL action going, and this time the stakes have been upped even more! The ECL Neo division will serve as a stepping stone for your team into competitive virtual hockey in the best company around. Join the action now for lots of fun and memorable moments along the way! We have now launched the registration for the Neo division of ECL '23 Winter. After reading this article you'll be ready to participate in your first ECL experience. If you haven’t read our general information yet, we suggest you head over to our ECL ’23 Winter information article. Description This division is for new teams or teams who want to play on a relaxed schedule. However, SportsGamer reserves the right to move teams deemed to have an exceptionally high skill level to the Core division. The Neo division features a full regular season and best-of-five playoffs. Participation in ECL Neo does not require a team or player license. Thus, ECL Neo doesn't feature a prize pool. ECL Neo: 32+ teams Sign up without restrictions Regular season: 4 groups of 9 teams Playoffs: 24 teams (top 2 per group skip first round) Best-of-5 Gamedays: Wednesday Sunday ECL '23 Winter: Neo Schedule Registration period: 14.11-8.12.2022 Regular Season: 14.12.2022-18.1.2023 RO64: 22.-25.1.2023 RO32: 29.2.-1.2.2023 RO16: 5.-8.2.2023 Quarterfinals: 12.-15.2.2023 Semifinals: 19.-22.2.2023 Finals: 26.2.-1.3.2023 *If you're an existing team that wants to change names, simply sign up with the old name and contact support for the name change. If you're having issues with signing up overall, please contact support.

SportsGamers, It's time to get another great season of ECL action going, and this time the stakes have been upped even more! With up to 28 000€ in the prize pool across all divisions, now is the time to register your team for one of the biggest events of the NHL esports season! We have now opened registrations for ECL '23 Winter Lite & Pro Qualifier teams! After reading this article, you will know if your team can apply and how this will affect your team’s players. If you haven’t read our general information yet, we suggest you head over to our ECL ’23 Winter information article. Schedule for Lite Qualifiers Registration: 14.11-22.11.2022 Qualifiers: 24.11-8.12.2022 *If you're an existing team that wants to change names, simply sign up with the old name and contact support for the name change. If you're having issues with signing up overall, please contact support. Updated ECL Lite Qualifiers For the ECL '23 Season, ECL Lite Qualifiers will be expanded, whereas Core teams will no longer have spots in the ECL Pro Qualifiers from the ECL '23 Pro Spring Qualifiers onwards. These changes will better ensure that all teams will be playing at their correct level in the future. Here's the gist of the changes we'll be making: Expansion of ECL Lite Qualifiers The Expansion of the ECL '23 Lite Qualifiers will come into effect immediately. Here, we'll be increasing the Qualifier size to a total of 64 teams, consisting of 15 Lite teams, 28 Core teams and 4 Neo teams from the previous season. The remaining 17 spots in the qualifiers will be filled by Wildcard teams, and these Wildcard spots will be open for application to every team without restrictions. Wildcard spots will be filled in order of registration. In the case of eligible teams not signing up, the amount of Wildcard spots will automatically increase. Read more about Wildcards here. The following teams are have secured their spot to register to the Lite Qualifiers: Any team can now register for the ECL Lite Qualifiers, however the limited remaining spots will be registered in a first come first served basis. Schedule for Pro Qualifiers Registration: 14.11-22.11.2022 Qualifiers: 24.11.-7.12.2022 *If you're an existing team that wants to change names, simply sign up with the old name and contact support for the name change. If you're having issues with signing up overall, please contact support. The following teams are eligible to register the Pro Qualifiers: What if all Qualifier positions are not filled? Teams will not be promoted straight and all open spots will be filled through qualifiers (excluding automatically relegated/promoted teams). If there happens to be more open spots than anticipated (e.g. from teams disbanding which would have been invited to play in the qualifier) spots are filled as follows: Pro Qualifiers Pro relegated teams Lite #10-16 Wildcard teams #5-8 Lite #17-32 Core #5-8 Special rules for Qualifier teams To prevent teams from taking advantage, specifically recruiting players to bolster your chances in the qualifier that have no intention of remaining in the team beyond that, we have decided to enforce a soft roster lock post qualifier play. If a former Elite player wants to participate in a qualifier for a Wildcard, Pro or Lite team, then they will be locked into that division at where the team ends up throughout the season Transfer to a lower division is possible If a former Pro player wants to participate in a qualifier for a wildcard, Pro or Lite team, then they will be locked into that division at where the team ends up for 2 weeks (starting from the first game played in Pro that season) Transfer to a lower division is possible Lite & Pro Qualifiers are part of the season so it is good to remember that only one transfer is allowed during the season

SportsGamers, It's time to get another great season of ECL action going, and this time the stakes have been upped even more! With up to 27 000€ in the prize pool across all divisions, now is the time to register your team for one of the biggest events of the NHL esports season! We have now opened registrations for Wildcard teams! After reading this article, you will know if your team can apply for a wildcard spot and how this will affect your team’s players. If you haven’t read our general information yet, we suggest you head over to our ECL ’23 Winter information article. What does "Wildcard team" mean? A Wildcard team is a newly created team consisting of experienced community members with such experience and skill that could warrant playing at a higher level than the one the current team would otherwise be assigned to. Alternatively, a team that has strengthened significantly over the offseason can also be considered a Wildcard team. How many Wildcard spots are there? There are four Wildcard spots up for grabs in the Pro division, while Lite holds 17 Wildcard spots. Lite Qualifier Wildcard How are the Lite Qualifier Wildcard spots decided? Spots will be open for application to every team without restrictions. Wildcard spots will be filled in order of registration. ECL '23 Lite Wildcard teams TBD Schedule Lite Wildcard registrations: 14.-19.11.2022 Lite Qualifiers: 24.11-8.12.2022 * Sign-ups will close 23:59 CET on the last day mentioned unless otherwise specified. Additionally, players qualifying for the Wildcard spot must be on the team roster by the time the sign-ups close. Pro Qualifier Wildcard How are the Lite Qualifier Wildcard spots decided? If there are more Wildcard eligible teams than spots are available, Wildcard qualifiers will be played. The final format is determined by the number of teams and the lineups of the registered teams. Pro Qualifier Wildcard requirements Three former Elite starters Four former Pro starters A starter is defined as having played 16 or more games in the ECL '22 Spring season, or 20 or more games in the ECL '22 Winter season Pro Wildcard Schedule Pro Wildcard registration: 14.-19.11.2022 Pro Wildcard Battle (if needed): 21.-22.11.2022 Pro Qualifiers: 24.11.-7.12.2022 * Sign-ups will close 23:59 CET on the last day mentioned unless otherwise specified. Additionally, players qualifying for the Wildcard spot must be on the team roster by the time the sign-ups close. ECL '23 Pro Wildcard eligible teams TBD *If you're an existing team that wants to change names, simply sign up with the old name and contact support for the name change. If you're having issues with signing up overall, please contact support. Special rules for wildcard teams To prevent teams from taking advantage, specifically recruiting players to bolster your chances in the qualifier that have no intention of remaining in the team beyond that, we have decided to enforce a soft roster lock post qualifier play. If a former Elite player wants to participate in a qualifier for a Wildcard Pro team, then they will be locked into that division at where the team ends up throughout the season Transfer to a lower division is possible If a former Pro player wants to participate in a qualifier for a Wildcard Pro team, then they will be locked into that division at where the team ends up for 2 weeks (starting from the first game played in Pro that season) Transfer to a lower division is possible Wildcard Qualifiers and Lite & Pro Qualifiers are part of the season so it is good to remember that only one transfer is allowed during the season Teams with a Lite division spot can apply for Wildcard status for Pro Qualifiers without losing their spot

Hi @Hashim96, I would recommend looking at the Swedish Championships, which you can register for now either as an individual (1v1) or as a team (6v6). You can read more here: If you are looking for a team, you can mark yourself as a free agent here: You can also browse this thread with teams looking for players: Finally, you can also join our Discord, where it's possible to find teams to play with for the night and maybe something more meaningful. https://sportsgamer.gg/discord If you're not used to Discord, it can feel a little bit intimidating at first, due to the amount of information and options thrown at you. We're working on a "How to Discord" instruction set for NHL 23 to make it a bit easier. We're also open to feedback on how to make it more accessible. Welcome to the community!

Hi @Geekie23 👋 I don't know the answer, but perhaps @MartindalexC could have a clue?