BLAST to Host $145K Dota 2 Tournament with Betway as Sponsor

BLAST Premier has made a foray into Dota 2 with the BLAST Bounty Hunt tournament and Betway as the competition’s title sponsor.

Dota 2 Bounty Hunt Gets Betway as Title Sponsor

Betway has become the title sponsor for the BLAST Premier inaugural Dota 2 tournament. The BLAST Bounty Hunt is the first competitive event for Dota 2 hosted by BLAST and it will offer teams an opportunity to win a share of the $145,000 prize pool.

While BLAST Premier remains primarily focused on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), the company has decided to branch out into esports. The event will kick off on June 9 and reunite a number of high-profile Dota 2 powerhouses, including Betway-backed Ninjas in Pyjamas.

Other teams entering the fray include Alliance, Team Secret, Team Nigma, OG, and Team Liquid, which will all try to seal the first place over the four-day tournament. Commenting on these developments, Betway Head of Esports, Adam Savinson, noted that Betway has already been “incredibly successful,” in opting to collaborate with BLAST on Counter-Strike tournaments.

We are excited to see BLAST bring their innovative and exciting approach to a new game, and are proud to help them on that journey, Savinson added.

This is not the first time Betway has sponsored the BLAST Premier. The sportsbook became a title sponsor for the entire 2020 series in December 2019, forging an important partnership. BLAST Commercial Director, Leo Matlock, joined commenting on the successful collaboration between the two companies. He had this to add:

The expansion of this deal is testament to the impressive collaboration between BLAST and Betway over the last 18 months as we both strive to be industry leaders in esports and entertain fans the best we can.

Matlock said that BLAST continues to rely on its good ties with Betway and branch out into one of the “most loved and most played games,” Dota 2. BLAST Premier’s mission now would be to deliver a world-class esports experience for Dota 2 fans to enjoy. The company was delighted, Matlock said, that Betway was working with it to achieve this.

Betway’s Larger Sponsorship Footprint in Esports

Previously, Betway has sponsored a number of entities and tournament hosts within the esports ecosystem, including the DreamHack Masters Spring earlier in May. The sportsbook has forged a number of high-profile deals with esports powerhouses, including BIG, Invictus Gaming, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Made in Brazil, PSG.LGD.

All of the above are established teams in esports, giving Betway a distinct footprint in the segment. Betway appeared on the PSG.LGD player jerseys, which has unnerved some, including Valve, the creator of Dota 2. However, sportsbooks are becoming a more common occurrence in the mainstream esports space and companies have fewer objections as a result.

Dota 2 now even allows players to use an in-game currency to place mock bets. As to the BLAST Bounty Hunt, the first games will be played between Team Liquid and Team Nigma and Alliance vs Ninjas in Pyjamas. The winner of these two games will progress in the Upper Bracket and meet Team Secret and OG respectively, with the defeated team awaiting the losers of the second round in the Lower Bracket.

The event will be cast by Owen Davies and Ioannis Loucas and commented by Jorien van der Heijden. Troels Lyngholt Nielsen (syndereN) and Kevin Godec (Purge) will step in as analysts. The event finishes on June 13 with a grand BO5 final.