Las Vegas approves $2 million BLAST deal for a 2028 Major ⇒ Pley.gg

The city’s tourism board passed the sponsorship without a single question, but Valve has still not named any 2028 Major host.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) board approved a $2 million sponsorship agreement with BLAST ApS on Tuesday 10 November, covering a Counter-Strike Major and a summer BLAST event in Las Vegas in 2028. The vote was first reported by LVSportsBiz, which noted that board members had no questions for staff on the item, and the Las Vegas Review-Journal also reported the approval.

On Monday we wrote that Las Vegas was weighing the $2 million BLAST deal ahead of the meeting.

A low-demand weekend to fill

LVCVA chief sports officer Janis Burke told the board that the dates were the selling point, the Review-Journal reported:

What’s particularly attractive about this opportunity is the timing. The Counter-Strike Major will take place between Thanksgiving and National Finals Rodeo, a typically low-demand period within our destination. And the second event will be selected specifically to drive visitation over a low-demand summer weekend in 2028.

HLTV reported that the second Major of 2028 is tentatively pencilled in for 20 November to 10 December. The summer event will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, and the board documents do not name the game.

Burke also pointed to the audience. “This is the sweet spot for visitors we were targeting to bring to Las Vegas, men 27 to 45 years old,” she said.

What Las Vegas gets for the money

According to the agenda book, the deal gives the LVCVA:

“host city designation and rights for both premier BLAST tournaments”
digital, broadcast and destination marketing assets
“hospitality and ticket allocations”

The agency expects the two events to generate 130,000 hotel room nights. The full $2 million is booked in its fiscal 2028 budget, the 12 months that end on 30 June 2028. The documents do not say how the money is split between the two events or where the Major itself will be played.

The spend is part of a bigger push. LVCVA president Steve Hill told the board that the agency will need to spend $60 million a year on sports, up from $12 million in 2018, LVSportsBiz reported.

Las Vegas approves $2 million BLAST deal for a 2028 Major

Valve still has the final word

Neither Valve nor BLAST has announced a 2028 Major, and BLAST did not answer requests for comment from HLTV or The Esports Advocate. The vote secures the city’s money, not a place on Valve’s calendar.

If it goes ahead, Las Vegas would host BLAST’s third Major after Paris 2023 and the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025, the last Major in the United States. In Austin, Vitality beat The MongolZ 2-1 in the grand final at the Moody Center in June 2025. The LVCVA’s case for the deal leans on that event, which it says “sold more than 45,000 tickets with 80% of ticketholders traveling to the event from out of state”.

The city’s only previous top-tier Counter-Strike event was DreamHack Masters Las Vegas in February 2017, where Virtus.pro beat SK Gaming in the final at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Before any of that, the PGL Major Singapore 2026 starts on 24 November.