I too think that Relic should run a charity.
They're not. Neither are Valve, Blizzard, or Riot, yet they all know that cultivating a competitive scene and treating it with respect are good for their bottom lines. Holding a tournament that is in almost all ways inferior to OCF, an entirely community-run event, isn't exactly a show of respect or confidence in the game's competitive scene. You can run an event that is effective marketing while also showing you have confidence in your community. This ESL event is marketing, no doubt, but it's not exactly a confidence-builder when the developers of a game can't match and exceed community offerings.
When I heard about OCF, I went "Shit, I wish I was into CoH2 because this is an amazing idea, an amazing event, and it's being executed really damn well." When I heard about the ESL league, I went "Wait, this has a smaller prize pool, a shittier format, and nobody behind it with any experience running CoH tournaments. How can Relic, the developer of the game with more stake in its success than anyone else, not top a community-run and -funded event?" It's disappointing how badly they've wasted this opportunity.