People Behind BLAST: Anne Banschbach

BLAST.tv

January 01, 1970

12:00 AM

People Behind BLAST is back for another episode and this time we’re featuring a new joiner in the BLAST ranks, just one month into their BLAST journey. Anne Banschbach started at BLAST at the beginning of September as the Programme Director for Valve and Development, hopping across from French esports giants Team Vitality.

Since joining, Anne’s already been on the ground in London for the Premier Open at Wembley and now sets her sights firmly on the upcoming South East Asia tour for Slam IV & V, as well as BLAST Rivals Hong Kong.

Anne brings a wealth of experience from the team side of the industry and now, she’s translating that knowledge into tournament and product operations, making sure fans, teams, players, and partners all get the best possible experiences.

In this Q&A, Anne reflects on first impressions of BLAST, the challenge of hitting the ground running, and what her top priorities are for the rest of 2025 and beyond.

Okay, so you’ve been at BLAST for just under a month now - what have been your first impressions?

My first impression is that it’s a much bigger operation than you can see from the outside. There are a lot of great people working behind the scenes who you don't necessarily see or assume are behind the scenes, and BLAST really is a group of a lot of talented and motivated people.

The growth and expansion of the company, the addition of new ecosystems in the past years have been a big step for BLAST, so we're playing catch-up, but that's a bit of a luxury problem to have.

Let’s wind the clock back, where were you before you joined BLAST?

So right before BLAST I spent four years at Team Vitality as the Director of Esports and led all of the esports operations. Before that I had a brief stint in data, and before that I was in G2 Esports. So, I've worked across from BLAST since early 2019, which is cool, but always from the side of the team operations perspective, never from the tournament operations.

So you are BLAST’s Programme Director for Valve and Development, how would you describe your role - how does it differ from previous roles?

My role is really overseeing anything that relates to Valve. So for us that’s Premier and Slam at BLAST, and then development means overseeing new incoming projects. My role means that anything that falls under the program for Valve, I have to be across, and ideally with the executive producer Frederick (Munksgaard, Executive Producer) and Kuno (Sebastian Grydholt, Senior Producer), work out how to get it done in the best way possible for the fans, for the teams, for the company, and for our commercial partners.

The difference compared to my previous role is that before I was always focused on having to win a tournament and then having all these stakeholders involved in it (that are not so different from the ones right now), but it was about winning the competition. Whereas for BLAST, the difference is that I'm looking more at how we can make our product the best it can be. So, it's still winning, but on the product side, not on the competitive side.

Leading the Valve efforts, have you or the wider team set any goals for the remainder of the year?

Absolutely. For the rest of the year it’s to have a really great first two arena shows physically for Slam, to end the first year of the new circuit for Premier on a high note, and to have a really good show in Hong Kong.

On another side, our goal is absolutely to focus on upping our game in team servicing and also in communications. I do believe that BLAST already has a really great product, but it doesn't necessarily come across publicly, and that's just due to a shortcoming of having a clear voice and putting it properly in front of the public eye. We really want to show everyone what we're doing right now so that everybody understands what our offering is and that there are no misunderstandings. And I’ll be taking on the responsibility of serving as a spokesperson!

What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve had to deal with since coming on board?

I think the biggest challenge is coming from the team side, knowing the pain points on that side, and then translating them into the business with a different perspective and trying to solve those.

A challenge has been to hit the ground running. There is no chill time in esports and events when you come on board. So while I was having onboarding meetings and sifting through the 13th deck, I was already fixing things on the go, on the fly. So I think the biggest challenge has been to stay organized and prioritise the right things and not get frustrated when that doesn't work out perfectly.

What will be your big focus for the rest of 2025?

My big focus for ‘25 will be team servicing and then also, of course, getting the announcements and strategic plans right for Premier in ‘27 and ‘28. Due to the Valve rules, we have to announce this around that January time frame, which means we have a short two-and-a-half-month window to get it done. Getting that right, right from the start, will be a major goal as I come on board.

Let’s look a little further down the road into 2026: what challenges do you envision as BLAST grows or what’s a potential roadblock you’re looking forward to solving?

I mean, it's events and it's esports, so you never know what kind of things are going to be thrown at you. So, it's always about staying nimble and being ready for anything. I do envision that there will be a lot of calendar challenges and also a lot of travel and just global mobility challenges in terms of operations - maybe there's some bad weather, maybe we get restrictions from airlines, who knows. So all of that will be a challenge that we will tackle, but I'm sure we'll get it done.

Okay so let’s step outside your role and go a bit more personal - You’ve already started travelling to different countries for BLAST events and also likely others in your prior roles, is there a standout destination?

Honestly, for me the travel always feels a little bit the same, because you're in an arena or a hotel and I unfortunately don't get a lot of time to sightsee around the cities. I am looking forward to Hong Kong and Singapore simply because I love this part of the world. I love the SEA region and just having some time to spend there. So I’m really, really excited about this! I've never been to mainland China, so Chengdu will be a first for me and I’m super excited to step foot there.

What’s been your favourite event(s) and why?

Favourite event? Honestly, it's boring, but it was the one where I actually didn't travel a lot. It was the Paris Major. But I think that's because we ended up winning it. And that will forever be the best event of my life because we were on a boat in the Seine at sunset celebrating a win, and no one can take that away from me.

I do love Austin. Austin, Texas was a super great location, the venue was class, the city was absolutely lovely. The food was insane, and I'm excited to return to Texas.

Okay so let’s say you’ve got a blank cheque and can host an event anywhere. Where would it be?

I think I would go for something like Berlin or New York. Having a big capital where CS has been before but hasn't been in a while, I think that would be super exciting!

Let's say you’ve become a part of the BLAST Broadcast in front of the camera, what role would you suit? (Host, commentary, coach, player, analyst)

It's definitely not player, analyst, or coach. I think I'm not competitive enough to sit down as a player, and I also just really do not have the skill set. I think I could see myself on the host or commentary side of things because observing things and then talking about them, entertaining people, and relating to the audience is something that I enjoy.

What do you like to do outside of work? Any hobbies?

No hobbies. I do nothing. I just work and sleep… No, I do sometimes get to do things in my private time. I enjoy volleyball and dancing, and when I do get to travel I enjoy trying out new cuisines around the world.