The Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) has announced that its first Major of the year will take place in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Set to take place at the 4,500 capacity K.B. Hallen Arena from March 28th-31st, 16 qualified teams will compete for its $255,000 (~£203,000) total prize pool.
Teams will only be competing in front of a live audience on March 30th and 31st with tickets set to go on sale later this week. This is the first time a Rocket League arena event has been held in Denmark.
Alongside the prize pool, teams will also be competing for RLCS points which contribute to Rocket League World Championship qualification.
For the 2024 season, the RLCS is being operated by tournament organiser BLAST, alongside Epic Games’ FNCS (Fortnite) ecosystem. The change in operation coincided with numerous changes to the competition’s format — notably highlighted by the RLCS scaling back from last season.
In total, the RLCS will hold two Majors and the Rocket League World Championship in September. The overall RLCS prize pool for the 2024 season has also dropped to $4.3m, down significantly from 2023’s $6m figure. This was met with community criticisms from Rocket League fans and stakeholders.
Despite the criticisms though, RLCS’s new qualification format did create a sizable increase in viewership. Notably, the RLCS 2024 Major 1: EU Open Qualifier 1 peaked at 413,177 viewers, according to Esports Charts. This is the second-highest peak viewership for a Rocket League esports event ever, with only the RLCS 2022-23 World Championship recording more (468,292). Open qualifiers in North America recorded similar viewership numbers in comparison to last year.
The RLCS Major is not the only major esports event that Copenhagen will hold in 2024. Organised by tournament organiser PGL, CS2’s Major Copenhagen will also take place in March and is the title’s first Major since the game’s transition from CS:GO.