BLAST Signs Multi-Year Deal With unikrn for Counter-Strike Competitions

Published by

James Fudge

1 year ago

Tournament organizer BLAST announced Wednesday that it has inked a multi-year partnership agreement with Entain-owned esports and video games betting platform unikrn.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The partnership will officially begin with the BLAST Paris Major in May, the last official Counter-Strike Global Offensive competition of the 2023 season—the next season will move to Counter-Strike 2, according to Valve.

Under the terms of the agreement, unikrn will work with BLAST to deploy “fan experiences” including fan-led activations, giveaways on social media platforms, broadcast integration, and physical and digital branding on the BLAST Premier tournament series.

The “unikrn esportsbook” is currently licensed in Brazil and Canada—excluding the province of Ontario.

On a related note, tournament organizer PGL announced Tuesday that it will host the first official Counter-Strike 2 major of 2024 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Last week, BLAST announced that it would continue to work with Epic Games to produce Fortnite Championship Series competitions for the remainder of 2023.

James Fudge

With a career spanning over two decades in the esports and gaming journalism landscape, James Fudge stands as a seasoned veteran and a pivotal figure in the evolution of esports media. His journey began in 1997 at Game-Wire / Avault, where he curated gaming and community news, laying the groundwork for his expertise in the field. In his more recent roles, James cemented his status as an authority in the esports business sphere as Senior Editor Esports at Sports Business Journal and The Esports Observer between 2018 and 2021.