BLAST will bring all of the action to the U.S. for the first time since Boston.
Alongside its massive head-turning 2025 calendar featuring some bizarre formats and prize rules, BLAST has announced the Next CS Major. The Austin Major will be run in June 2025, bringing a Major to North America after seven years.
Moody Center: Austin, TX to host the next CS Major
The "award-winning, world-class arena" Moody Center will be the host for BLAST.tv Major Austin. Bringing us all the action of the summer major, the event will mark a shift for the mid-year Majors with a season closer. With a new format expected to come in for Major qualification in 2025, the event will perhaps be the first to truly embrace the open calendar.
Massive $1,250,000 prize pool
Similar to the BLAST.tv Paris Major, the next CS major will also have a $1.25 million prize pool. The Austin Major is expected to be the biggest esports event ever held in the U.S. That will be a huge task considering League of Legends' Worlds and Dota 2's The International (TI) have previously been held in the states. BLAST is forecasting the city to benefit from $40 million in economic investment.
“We are thrilled that Austin has been selected to host the BLAST.tv Austin Major, one of the biggest esports events in the world. Austin is the perfect place to showcase the esports industry and the technology at the heart of the competition. We look forward to welcoming teams and fans from all across the globe to Austin.”
BLAST has teamed up with Live Nation, a leader in live entertainment, and Austin-based promoters C3 Presents, along with Visit Austin, to bring the BLAST.tv Major to the city. The tournament organizer hopes to bring the same entertainment as the Boston Major did all the way back in 2018.
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Boston Major legacy still lives
Fans still adore ELEAGUE Major Boston. It gave us classics like the FaZe Clan choke and the Cloud9 miracle. When Jake "Stewie2k" stepped into Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Dallas, the crowd went wild — not for a legend, but for their hero who brought them a Major. And if the next CS major aims to replicate that, it will need the best teams and storylines.
In many ways, who better to emulate that than BLAST? ELEAGUE's dip out of CS and BLAST's emergence nearly coincided, and the tournament organizer has always aimed to separate it from the pack through its exotic locations and incredible production. Maybe Austin can truly give fans a Major experience worth remembering forever.
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