BLAST Announces Paris Major 2023 to be held in the Accor Arena

BLAST has announced the first CSGO Major of 2023 will be held in Paris' Accor Arena. The announcement follows on from French President Emmanuel Macron's comments back in April. In an interview, he stated a desire to host the top esports events in France, including the CSGO Major.

As we enter the 10th year of CSGO Majors, it is surprising that one of the greatest Counter-Strike nations never hosted a major. France, a country that had dominated CS:Source and was always a force to be reckoned with in CSGO, will be hosting its first-ever major. And what a better venue than the city of light itself.

One of the first things that jump off the announcement page is the emphasis on BLAST.tv. BLAST.tv is BLAST's first party platform for watching their events. While still in Beta, the platform has garnered some attention and has been an enjoyable experience for all the fans who have tested it out. And with the upcoming major, the TO is focusing on this aspect of their business completely.

The major does not use their BLAST Premier moniker instead going for the "BLAST.tv Major" title. This is also a way for the TO to potentially separate the event from their partnerships with Premier teams, which would create a Conflict of Interest.

The Venue for the Major will be Paris' Accor Arena. Located in the Bercy neighborhood, the stadium has been host to the Paris Master ATP Tour Tennis event alongside a multitude of concerts and performances. With a capacity of 20,000 spectators, the venue will be the perfect grounds for the biggest event on the CSGO calendar.

Ever since the demise of ELEAGUE in 2018, BLAST has taken up the throne for CSGO Production. First with their novelty-tailored BLAST Pro Series events, and then with the true world-class Premier circuit. And even with their billions, ESL has been unable to match the quality that BLAST delivers event after event.

Now as they gear up to face their biggest challenge yet, fans are excited to see how they will innovate. And thanks to the BLAST.tv branding they have a chance to completely reinvent what a BLAST event looks like. Nevertheless, with their only big event experience being 8 team LANs, holding a 24 team major and the preceding 52 team RMRs, will be a task they will have to learn on the job.

As we enter the Major circuit for IEM Rio, BLAST's announcement is already making waves in the scene. Will they live up to the challenge, where PGL and Starladder couldn't?

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