News · Esports

BLAST Premier Open 3 heads to the US for Sept. 3-12, 2027

BLAST confirmed the third BLAST Premier Open will be played on LAN in the United States from Sept. 3 to Sept. 12, 2027, with 16 teams and $1.25 million in prize money and team payments.

By CSgoFriendsPublished

Image from BLAST's post "Third BLAST Premier Open heads to the United States in 2027"
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Key facts

  • WhenSept. 3-12, 2027
  • Teams16, with 11 direct VRS invites and five qualifier spots
  • Prize$1.25 million in prize money and team payments

BLAST announced on Oct. 30 that the United States will host the third BLAST Premier Open in 2027. The event runs from Sept. 3 to Sept. 12 and is part of the 2027 BLAST Premier circuit.

Sixteen teams will compete for a combined $1.25 million in prize money and team payments. Both stages will be played on LAN in the US.

Format and schedule

The Play-In Stage is a 16-team Swiss bracket played over five days. From there, eight teams advance to a single-elimination playoff, which ends with three days of arena competition.

BLAST said the Swiss format brings dual-stream broadcasts to BLAST Open and that the eight-team playoff gives fans at the arena more matches.

  1. Sept. 4Media Day
  2. Sept. 5-9Swiss stage
  3. Sept. 10-12Playoffs

Acceptance fees

The event has a $400,000 acceptance fee pot, paid to teams that accept the invite. Each team’s amount depends on its invite placement:

  • First to fourth$60,000
  • Fifth to eighth$30,000
  • Ninth to 16th$5,000

How teams qualify

Eleven teams get direct invitations based on the Valve Regional Standings (VRS) published on May 3, 2027. The official invitation date is May 4 at 1 p.m. UTC, and the participation rescission deadline is May 18 at 1 p.m. UTC.

The other five teams come from regional Closed Qualifiers. Europe, Asia and South America each get one place, while North America, as the host region, gets two.

Each Closed Qualifier has eight teams: four invited through their regional standings and four from Open Qualifiers. The Open Qualifiers are single elimination with no direct invitations.

  1. July 8-11, GSL-style formatNorth America
  2. July 9-11, single eliminationEurope, Asia and South America

All Closed Qualifier matches are best-of-three series. Rosters lock for the qualifiers on July 5 at 1 p.m. UTC and for the main event on Aug. 27 at 1 p.m. UTC.

BLAST said the updated BLAST Premier Handbook covers qualification, format, eligibility, seeding and prize money. Ticketing and event details will be announced later.

Why it matters

Eleven of the 16 spots go to direct invitations based on VRS rankings published May 3, 2027. The other five are decided in regional Closed Qualifiers in July.

Sources