Everything you need to know about BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025
Recently we hosted a press conference to celebrate the official beginning of the road to the BLAST.tv Austin Major.
The event, which is set to take place in June, will be the first esports event hosted in Austin and has sold out its tickets in a record six hours - meaning that we will be expecting 40,000 loyal Counter-Strike fans to be in attendance over the four days.
With plenty of information covered during the press conference, there's plenty of things to tell you about as we look ahead to the biggest event of the Summer.
Everything is bigger in Texas
Credit: David Brendan HallThe first Major on US soil since the ELEAGUE Boston Major in 2018, we are expecting an audience of 220 million people to tune in across the event, with 29 million of those projected to come from home soil.
As Complexity owner and CEO Jason Lake stepped to the stage, he was keen to stress the legacy of Counter-Strike esports within Texas.
The heart of Counter-Strike in the United States, Texas hosted many of the biggest events in the early years of CS, and it is in the iconic US state where many legends were first born.
"In the early days of Counter-Strike, teams would always come from around the world to compete in Texas." - Jason Lake, Complexity CEO
Next joined by mayor Kirk Watson, he described the Major as a "huge moment for the city".
Projected to generate $30m dollars for the city of Austin during it's duration, Watson describes it as a "marquee event" not just for esports, but also for the city of Austin.
"It's always bigger and better in Texas." - Mayor Kirk Watson
Of the 40,000 people expected to attend the event, 70% of those are forecasted to come outside the state of Texas. Esports is a truly global phenomenon, and that can't be highlighted more than by the fact the BLAST.tv Austin Major will be viewed and enjoyed across 150 nations and 28 languages.
Counter-Strike Majors are truly something special. A time when the most die-hard and casual fans unite in celebration of the sport, they have seen peaks of 170m viewers across events and peak audiences of 2.74m in their biggest games.
Counter-Strike Majors are truly the biggest esports events in the world.
BLAST's very own Andrew Haworth then took to the stage, discussing the format of the brand new 32-team Major.
With that new system comes a new qualifying system, the Major Regional Qualifiers, which you can read more about here.
Tailgating is a huge part of American sports, a community event that makes each matchday special whether it's baseball, football, or basketball. It's a culture that we'll be looking to pay homage to during the event, setting up an area for tailgating to kick off each arena day.
More info on tailgates coming soon.
Austin's Moody Centre is a world class venue, and the BLAST.tv Austin Major will be the next in a long line of world class events that have been hosted within it since its opening in 2022.
Having already played host to the WWE and NBA's San Antonio Spurs, it will also soon play host to incredible acts such as Tyler, The Creator, Charlie XCX, and Linkin Park, so it's safe to say that we'll be in good company.
The incredible arena gives us a great scope to create a unique and iconic stage for the event, one that will live on in the memories of all the fans both in attendance and watching at home.
"We've been starved of a Major for a while, so I anticipate the fans that come here will bring more energy and noise than one can possibly imagine." - Jason Lake, Complexity CEO
As the conference came to an end, no one put it better than Andrew Haworth when he said "All roads lead to Austin."
For the 32 teams that qualify and the countless others than will have the hearts broken in their battle to do so, the BLAST.tv Austin Major is everything.
The biggest event of the year, it's set to be a record-breaking and historic event for esports both in the US and internationally, and we can't wait for it to get underway.
Credit: David Brendan Hall
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