Red Bull partners with ESL for IEM Kraków 2026

Esports tournament organiser ESL has named energy drink brand Red Bull as a partner for IEM Kraków 2026.

The brand becomes the official energy drink partner of the Tier 1 Counter-Strike tournament, which is taking place in the Polish city from January 28th to February 8th.

Announced on social media, details on the collaboration between the two parties were not disclosed. The deal isn’t the first time ESL and Red Bull have joined forces. In May 2025, the organiser and brand teamed up to be the official energy drink partner of DreamHack events.

The energy drink brand is the latest partner of the event. On January 27th, ESL unveiled a partnership with peripherals brand ZOWIE to provide its range of gaming monitors for players to use.

Red Bull is no stranger to Counter-Strike esports. In June 2025, the brand partnered with fellow tournament organiser BLAST for the Austin Major. Outside of event partnerships, the brand has hosted Red Bull Flick, a pro-am tournament featuring teams of two competing for a €50,000 (~£43,471) prize pool.

IEM Kraków is the first ESL-operated event of the 2026 CS2 season. The event marks its debut in Kraków after taking place in Katowice from 2013 until 2025. The move is part of a multi-year deal with the city and ESL FACEIT Group (EFG), cementing its place as part of the Counter-Strike calendar for several years.

IEM Kraków is the first event that forms the ESL Pro Tour, a global tournament circuit for Valve’s first-person shooter title. Featuring all of the top 24 teams from January’s Valve Regional Standings (VRS), the event features the world’s best teams competing for a share of a $1m (~£725,565) prize pool and $250,000 (~£181,391) in club incentives.

The tournament begins with the Play-In. 16 teams compete in a double-elimination bracket to earn eight places in the Group Stage, joining the remaining eight invited teams. Three teams from each group advance to the playoffs and are seeded into the quarter or semi-finals based on their Group Stage performance.

The six-team playoff is contested using a single-elimination best-of-three bracket until the Grand Final, where a best-of-five will determine the eventual champion.