Hi all,
I thought I should just provide a quick update so people don't feel in the dark. We're still waiting to start plans for next year but hope that we should have some more news out by early February if all goes smoothly.
ESL's only complication at the moment is that the feedback you gave in the polls were things that ESL cannot provide straight off the bats. Thing's such as major prize pools and Pro LAN events, these things can't just fall from the sky and cannot be provided unless we have a strong player base in ESL Play cups.
Referencing the ESL structure, we have to start from square one (ESL Open), which means there may be little to no prize pool in events. The admin team will do their best to provide something with what they have (medals or other such things). This may sound bad at first but if the community commits to playing in the cups, we can move our way up to the ESL Major stage which ensures prize pools and a possible league and so forth.
On a more positive note, we're looking for staff to come onboard with ESL to get this kickstarted! If you have an interest in assisting us in making ESL TF2 happen feel free to apply. When signing up, type in Team Fortress 2 in the new game/mod section.
I hope we're all on the same page so we can go ahead with this, it's going to be an exciting 2019!