By Sagar V. Mankar 
Tournament organizer BLAST is increasing its esports footprint, securing “multi-year” contracts with Epic Games to run events for both Fortnite and Rocket League.
After successfully operating recent Fortnite competitions, BLAST now has commercial rights to broadcasts and tournaments for Epic’s battle royale juggernaut.
The Rocket League partnership is a new avenue for BLAST to explore.
With these high-profile deals, BLAST is defiantly expanding despite speculation that industry giant ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) would dominate the market.
Healthy Competition Crucial for Esports Growth
EFG boasts the funding and title breadth to theoretically absorb or outlast any rivals.
Their Saudi-backed coffers seem bottomless, virtually guaranteeing premiere productions across countless esports.
These resources let EFG write big checks to secure lucrative contracts, muscling out the competition.
But BLAST refusing to shrivel in EFG’s shadow bodes well for esports’ future.
Monopolization by one tournament organizer would give them too much control over broadcast rights, events, pricing, and more for entire esports.
So, Publishers signing with alternative organizers like BLAST keep the playing field even.
BLAST had previously inked a deal with Fortnite, producing various events, including the entire 2022 and 2023 circuits.
Known for its presence in Counter-Strike and control over the Rainbow Six: Siege circuit, BLAST’s foray into Rocket League adds another dimension to its diverse esports portfolio.
With its scrappy operation thriving amidst esports gigantic, BLAST’s flexibility ensures no single TO has total domination of the industry.
That healthy competition will let esports broadcasting and events continue innovating.
Kudos to BLAST on these big gets!