EG exit marks BLAST and EPT Changes

Ever since the signing of the BLAST Premier Partner Agreement in 2019 and the Louvre Agreement in 2020, Counter-Strike's once incredibly varied LAN scene with dozens of teams and multiple organizers turned into a two-TO circuit with 12-15 teams dominating most of the calendar. Since the first list of teams, both rosters have had certain teams considered uncompetitive with the rest of the league.

Luckily, we are at the end of EG's era of woeful performances and blatant cash-grab rosters built for the sole purpose of earning these partnership payments with no interest in competing for titles or even mantaining the legendary stature of the brand that this incompetent management had inherited.

Finally, both leagues have had a chance to update their partnerships following EG's departure so let's take a look at what's changing in 2024.

ESL Pro Tour Update

ESL's update to the EPT following EG's departure is mostly minor with changes only to ESL Pro League. This is because as part of the Louvre Agreement, Partner teams only get invites to EPT events if they are within the top 20 teams in the world, something the NA organization failed to achieve for years. Thus, ESL's only change has been to switch out EG's EPL Slot with another ESL World Ranking slot for Season 19.

BLAST Premier Update

BLAST on the other hand have done their usual sweep of changes through the sale of EG's partner spot. After another bidding process Cloud9 came out on top, securing the partnership, in what might be the final year of partner leagues depending on how strict Valve choose to be with their announced decision.

The bidding process further highlighted to BLAST that despite the end of partner leagues coming soon, there was still significant interest in participating in the BLAST circuit. Keeping this interest in mind, BLAST is reportedly expanding the circuit to 16 teams in 2024, adding 4 partner teams without revenue sharing.

These slots will also be sold after a bidding process and will allow teams to participate in the BLAST Premier Groups to get the significant amount of ranking points for both HLTV and ESL rankings alongside easier qualification for the BLAST Premier World Finals.

It remains to be seen what teams would be joining the circuit and how that will change up the formats for the various events throughout the year, but BLAST might be looking at their most competitive season till date.