Esports tournament organiser BLAST has commenced a formal destination selection process for its major esports events in 2024 and beyond.
BLAST said it will work with interested locations to discuss hosting opportunities for its 2024 events. The organiser is offering ‘over five’ current hosting opportunities, with Counter-Strike series BLAST Premier and Rainbow Six circuit BLAST R6 named as examples.
The organiser’s other hosting opportunities were not mentioned, but BLAST has produced EPIC Games’ Fortnite Champion Series (FNCS) events in 2023, whilst also hosting its own CS:GO Major, the BLAST.tv Paris Major. In the past BLAST has also facilitated Apex Legends, VALORANT and Dota 2 esports events.
James Woollard, Head of Commercial Solutions at BLAST, claimed in an announcement that previous BLAST events have resulted in ‘economic impacts’ of over €22m (~£19m) for host locations. More than 60% of attendees to these events come from outside the host city, he claimed.
The tournament organiser has previously held events in Paris, Madrid, London, Copenhagen, Lisbon and Washington D.C.
“BLAST has built a reputation of delivering world-class arena events that produce tangible impacts for the host destination and exciting experiences for fans,” commented Woollard.
He continued: “Hosts have benefited from economic impacts, esports’ truly global and passionate fanbase, increased international exposure, and premium content and broadcast exposure showcasing the host destination to tens of millions of viewers. With 2024 on the horizon, which is shaping out to be one of our biggest and best years yet, we are looking for further opportunities to create incredible events at leading locations around the world.”
BLAST isn’t the only prominent tournament organiser to highlight the economic impact of hosting esports events. For example, Riot Games and the city of Raleigh, North Carolina reported that the 2023 LCS Spring Finals generated $2.74m (~£2.16m) of ‘direct economic’ impact for the city.
