BLAST Premier has announced that it has expanded its affiliate team programme with four additional organisations. The teams will gain access to all upcoming BLAST Premier events, including the coming Spring and Fall Groups, which has been adjusted to suit the increased number of attending teams.
The four organisations that have joined the programme include Falcons, GamerLegion, Team Spirit, and Virtus.pro. and as for how the upcoming events have been adjusted to reflect the 33% increase in affiliate teams (up to 16 from 12), BLAST has outlined specifically this.
- Both the Spring & Fall Groups will be expanded to 16 teams, six teams will advance to the Spring and Fall Finals and 10 teams will drop to the Spring and Fall Showdowns.
- This will add 2 x Bo3 matches to each Group, removing all redundant matches in the process and increasing the prize pool to $190,000 for each Spring and Fall Groups. There won't be any changes to the dates for the Spring or Fall Groups.
- There will be no changes to the Spring, Fall or World Finals.
- The new combined BLAST Premier Showdown, announced in November 2023 will feature 10 teams from the Spring and Fall Groups with six Regional Qualifiers building up the 16-team Showdown.
This will mean the 2024 season will feature five new affiliate teams, as Cloud9 recently bought Evil Geniuses' former affiliate slot at the end of the 2023 season.
