BLAST Premier Open Season 2 Heads to Porto for First Time, Super Bock Arena Confirmed for September
News/BLAST Premier Open Season 2 Heads to Porto for First Time, Super Bock Arena Confirmed for September
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31 March 2026 09:42
TL;DR
- BLAST Premier Open Season 2 will take place in Porto, Portugal, marking the first time BLAST has visited the country's second-largest city after three previous Portuguese events in Lisbon (2018, 2022, 2025), with the Super Bock Arena hosting the LAN stage from September 4-6.
- The tournament features a $1.1 million prize pool split between player share ($400,000) and club share ($700,000), with the group stage running from August 26 in BLAST's Copenhagen studios before 16 teams travel to Porto for the arena finale.
Portugal has been one of Counter-Strike's most reliable homes. The crowd energy, the passion, the willingness to travel for Tier 1 CS, it's a market BLAST has returned to three times already. Going to Porto for the first time rather than back to Lisbon is the interesting choice here.
Contents
The Format and Dates
Group stage action runs from August 26 at BLAST's Copenhagen studios, where 16 teams compete for their place in the Super Bock Arena. The LAN portion runs September 4-6, giving fans a three-day arena event to look forward to.
The prize pool is $1.1 million, structured with $700,000 going to clubs and $400,000 distributed as player prize money. That split is consistent with BLAST's broader VRS-era model of compensating organisations for participation alongside rewarding competitive performance.
The Super Bock Arena
The venue has a maximum capacity of 8,000, but realistically the stage setup will account for 25-33% of that space, which puts the expected crowd somewhere around 6,000 fans. That's a meaningful live audience for a CS2 event, particularly one in a market with Portugal's demonstrated enthusiasm for the game.
BLAST Programme Director Anne Banschbach framed the choice with appropriate weight: "Bringing BLAST Premier back to Portugal is a special moment for us. Portugal has consistently delivered events with some of the most passionate Counter-Strike fans in the world, and bringing our events to Porto for the first time is another exciting step in a milestone year for BLAST Premier."
She added: "We're proud to continue growing our global circuit in new cities, and we can't wait to deliver an unforgettable experience inside the Super Bock Arena this September." Ticket details, pre-sale information, and further specifics will be announced through BLAST's official social media channels closer to the event.
A Diverse 2026 Calendar
Porto slots into a 2026 BLAST calendar that's already covered considerable geographic ground. Rotterdam hosted Open Season 1, Fort Worth, Texas is on the schedule, and Chek Lap Kok in Hong Kong follows Porto in the autumn. The international spread reflects BLAST's strategy of treating CS2 as a genuinely global product rather than a primarily European one.
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31 March 2026 09:42
TL;DR
- BLAST Premier Open Season 2 will take place in Porto, Portugal, marking the first time BLAST has visited the country's second-largest city after three previous Portuguese events in Lisbon (2018, 2022, 2025), with the Super Bock Arena hosting the LAN stage from September 4-6.
- The tournament features a $1.1 million prize pool split between player share ($400,000) and club share ($700,000), with the group stage running from August 26 in BLAST's Copenhagen studios before 16 teams travel to Porto for the arena finale.
Portugal has been one of Counter-Strike's most reliable homes. The crowd energy, the passion, the willingness to travel for Tier 1 CS, it's a market BLAST has returned to three times already. Going to Porto for the first time rather than back to Lisbon is the interesting choice here.
The Format and Dates
Group stage action runs from August 26 at BLAST's Copenhagen studios, where 16 teams compete for their place in the Super Bock Arena. The LAN portion runs September 4-6, giving fans a three-day arena event to look forward to.
The prize pool is $1.1 million, structured with $700,000 going to clubs and $400,000 distributed as player prize money. That split is consistent with BLAST's broader VRS-era model of compensating organisations for participation alongside rewarding competitive performance.
The Super Bock Arena
The venue has a maximum capacity of 8,000, but realistically the stage setup will account for 25-33% of that space, which puts the expected crowd somewhere around 6,000 fans. That's a meaningful live audience for a CS2 event, particularly one in a market with Portugal's demonstrated enthusiasm for the game.
BLAST Programme Director Anne Banschbach framed the choice with appropriate weight: "Bringing BLAST Premier back to Portugal is a special moment for us. Portugal has consistently delivered events with some of the most passionate Counter-Strike fans in the world, and bringing our events to Porto for the first time is another exciting step in a milestone year for BLAST Premier."
She added: "We're proud to continue growing our global circuit in new cities, and we can't wait to deliver an unforgettable experience inside the Super Bock Arena this September." Ticket details, pre-sale information, and further specifics will be announced through BLAST's official social media channels closer to the event.
A Diverse 2026 Calendar
Porto slots into a 2026 BLAST calendar that's already covered considerable geographic ground. Rotterdam hosted Open Season 1, Fort Worth, Texas is on the schedule, and Chek Lap Kok in Hong Kong follows Porto in the autumn. The international spread reflects BLAST's strategy of treating CS2 as a genuinely global product rather than a primarily European one.
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View AllTL;DR * Team Vitality claimed their third consecutive Big Event title at BLAST Open Rotterdam, sweeping Natus Vincere 3-0 across...
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Mar 30, 2026
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More
Mar 02, 2026
Team Liquid has been crowned champion of BLAST Slam VI after defeating Natus Vincere 3-1 in the Grand Finals of...
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Feb 16, 2026
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Feb 09, 2026
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Jan 26, 2026