It's official: BLAST will host the first Major of 2025 in Austin, Texas
It's official, everyone. The Major is finally coming back to the United States after a long, long seven years. BLAST announced that Valve has awarded them the first Major for 2025, which will be held in Austin, Texas, at the 16,223-seat Moody Center.
BLAST is teaming up with Live Nation, Visit Austin, and Austin City Limits promoter C3 Presents to help bring the marquee event to life. BLAST says that Austin is forecasted to benefit from $40 million in economic investment, with 50,000 fans expected to attend the event.
Austin will now be host to a wide range of sporting events which includes the upcoming 2025 MLS All-Star game and the annual United States Grand Prix. Austin is one of the rare major cities in the United States that is not home to a Top 4 franchise with their biggest team being Austin FC of Major League Soccer.
"We are thrilled that Austin has been selected to host the BLAST.tv Austin Major, one of the biggest esports events in the world," Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said. "Austin is the perfect place to showcase the esports industry and the technology at the heart of the competition."
The United States has already hosted three Majors: MLG Major Columbus 2016, ELEAGUE Major Atlanta 2017, and ELEAGUE Major Boston 2018. With a six-year gap since the last Major was held in North America, fans will be excited about one of the biggest events finally returning home.
"We’re excited to host BLAST.tv Austin Major, Austin’s first arena-based esports competition, which we estimate will bring 10,000+ fans to Moody Center each day," Executive Director of the Austin Sports Commission Drew Hays stated. "For our city to have such a thriving technology sector and avid esports fanbase, an event like this is long overdue and we’re looking forward to an exciting competition next June."
The 2025 BLAST.tv Austin Major is scheduled to begin June 9th and will end June 22nd. The second Major of 2025 will be played during the first 14 days of December.
The next Major will be the Perfect World Major Shanghai 2024, which will begin on December 1st and end on December 15th. This event will be the first time a Major has been held in Asia.
