The first half of the 2025 season has concluded, and we are looking forward to the final tournaments of the year in Malta, London, and Hong Kong. However, BLAST has already confirmed its plans for the 2026 and 2027 seasons. We've gathered all the key details: tournament dates, formats, and prize distribution.

BLAST Premier 2026: Tournaments and Formats

In 2026, BLAST will host six major tournaments across three main series: Bounty, Open, and Rivals. All tournaments will follow new formats that the company began implementing in 2025.

The Bounty series tournaments will take place in two series:

• BLAST Bounty S1 — Malta
• BLAST Bounty S2 — Malta

These tournaments are designed for 32 teams: 28 top teams will be determined by the Valve Global Rankings, and four teams will receive Wildcard invitations from BLAST.

The tournament will follow a Single Elimination system (knockout) in a best-of-3 format. The final will be played in a best-of-5 format. The first two rounds will be held online, with LAN starting from the quarterfinals.

The prize pool for each Bounty tournament will be $1,150,000: $500,000 will be distributed as Bounty (teams earn money for wins), and $650,000 will be awarded based on placements.

Two Open series tournaments are scheduled for Europe and another location to be announced later:

• BLAST Open S1 — Europe (location to be specified)
• BLAST Open S2 — TBA

Each Open will feature 16 teams: 12 top teams from VRS and 4 winners from The Risings regional qualifiers.

The group stage will be in a Double Elimination format (best-of-3), with the top six teams advancing to the playoffs, where the champion will be determined in a best-of-5 final. Stage 1 will be held in a studio, and Stage 2 in a large arena.

The prize pool for each Open tournament will be $1,100,000: $400,000 in prize money, and $700,000 in team payouts.

The Rivals series will also have two series:

• BLAST Rivals S1 — Fort Worth, Texas, USA
• BLAST Rivals S2 — TBA

The Rivals tournaments will feature the top eight teams according to the BLAST VRS rankings. They will compete in a LAN arena in a GSL format, best-of-3 with a grand final in best-of-5. Rivals is a tournament for the world's strongest teams and one of the key events on the calendar.

The prize pool for each Rivals will be $1,000,000: $350,000 in prizes, and $650,000 in team payouts.

BLAST Tournament Dates in 2026

BLAST Premier 2026 Financial Model

In 2026, BLAST will invest $8,500,000 in the Counter-Strike competitive scene. This amount is distributed as follows:

• Prizes: $2,500,000
• Team payouts: $4,000,000
• Frequent Flyers Program: $2,000,000

The Frequent Flyers Program rewards teams for participating in multiple BLAST tournaments throughout the year. The more tournaments a team plays and the better their results, the higher the final payout.

BLAST Premier 2027: Tournament Calendar

In 2027, BLAST will continue with the same structure featuring two Bounty tournaments, three Open tournaments, and one Rivals, which will be the final event of the year. BLAST Premier 2027 calendar:

• Bounty S1: January 11 — January 24, 2027
• Open S1: March 15 — March 28, 2027
• Open S2: May 10 — May 23, 2027
• Bounty S2: August 30 — September 12, 2027
• Open S3: October 4 — October 17, 2027
• Rivals: November 8 — November 14, 2027

More detailed information about locations, qualifications, and team payouts will be published in January 2026. The previous champion of the BLAST tournament was Vitality, who won the Blast.tv Austin Major 2025, earning $500,000. You can read more about the final results in our article.