Counter-Strike tournament operator Blast Premier has signed a non-exclusive deal with streaming site Kick for the remainder of the 2024 season.
The Blast Premier Fall Season is underway, with the Fall Groups streaming on Kick this week (29th July – 4th August). This features 16 of Counter-Strike’s best teams all vying for a spot at the Fall Final Copenhagen (25-29th September). The Fall Showdown will also take place from August 21st to 25th.
The news comes a month after the Blast Premier Spring Final 2024 took place at London’s Wembley Arena.
With Kick coming on board as a streaming partner, Blast has expanded its list of global channels for the remainder of the year to 150+ territories and in 28 languages.
Kick was launched as a rival to Twitch in October 2022.
Blast said this partnership ‘further expands the Blast Premier global distribution network, giving fans another destination to watch Counter-Strike and tune into the remaining Fall Season events and the crowning jewel of the Blast Premier calendar, the World Final’.
Last year, Vitality won the Blast Premier World Final 2023 and Fall Final with UK player mezii.
At the Fall Groups this week, mezii (with Vitality) and fellow UK player Thomas (standing in at OG) are competing. Mezii beat GamerLegion 2-1 with Vitality, while Thomas had a tough start with OG losing 2-0 to Spirit.
Alexander Lewin, SVP of Commercial Revenue for Blast, said:
“We’re kicking off the start of the second half of the season and we are delighted to bring Kick on board, adding another viewing option for Blast and Counter-Strike fans around the world.”
Alexander Lewin, Blast
“In a short time, Kick has already contributed a great deal to the global growth of streaming viewership and we can’t wait to see Blast Premier integrated onto their platform. On top of our existing broadcast distribution network, Kick will offer a new route for fans to experience Blast Premier.”
“Kick is thrilled to partner with Blast to bring world-class esports entertainment onto the platform,” said Akhil Sarin, Chief Marketing Officer at Kick. “Collaborating with an organisation like Blast, which is dedicated to shaping the future of esports and gaming lifestyle events worldwide, aligns with our strategy of building a strong esports offering on Kick.
“We’re excited to deliver seamless, platform ad-free viewing experiences for fans around the globe, further grow our relationship with Blast and see what’s possible.”
Kick will broadcast the Blast Premier events at kick.com/blastpremier
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
