Frisco team looks to win share of $1M in Fort Worth video game tournament
Counter-Strike is one of the most poular video games around and will be be the focus of the BLAST Premier Rivals Fort Worth 2026, where teams will compete for their share of a $1 million prize pool, the largest for any Counter-Strike event this year.
The event will be held at Dickies Arena, which is no stranger to hosting video game tournament. The venue held the Fortnite Championship Series Global Championship and the Rocket League World Championship in 2024.
The competion takes place from May 1-3, with tickets availble on on Ticketmaster starting at $99 for a one-day tikcet and $123 for fans who want a three-day ticket.
Popular E-Sports team FaZe Clan, which is headquartered in Frisco, will be competing and President of Esports Erik Anderson spoke about his team’s outlook headinig into the tournament and what fans can expect.
“We’re in a little bit of a flux with our roster at the moment. We actually had a rough season, so we’re coming into this event looking to kind of stabilize and move forward,” said Anderson. “I’ll put it to the comparison of we were in the NBA Finals, but then we’re finding ourselves missing the playoffs, and so it’s a bit of a bummer, a little bit of a kind of a soul searching that we need to do with regards to what’s happening with the roster. So we’re actually approaching this event being like, OK, we want to take some some baby steps in recovery.”
The event features Counter-Strike and Anderson explained the allure for those unfamilliar with the tactical first-person shooter.
“I think is a beautiful game for it, because it’s got everything you want from traditional sports got edge of your seat moments. It’s got big swings back and forth, depending on people going on runs, like you see in basketball or football. And then it’s got those kind of hero moments where somebody just steps up at another level or either somebody crumbles, just like traditional sports. So it’s a lot of fun,” said Anderson.
Anderson’s team is headquartered in Frisco and Texas and is in partially owned by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. He talked about looking to ingratiate the team more in the Texas community.
“We’ll definitely shoot some content with the team around [the Stockyards],” said Anderson,“ [We’re] going to be really focused on how we can continue to grow North American eSports.”
Anderson made the pitch for why fans, even those who are not video game enthusiasts should come see the tournament.
“You got a really cool opportunity to see the best in the world internationally descending on your city and playing a global quality, like the highest level quality event,” said Anderson,”It’s worth giving it a shot, and especially if you’ve got a kid who has told you, hey, gaming’s great, you should just give it a chance. Because I think you’re I think you’d be very surprised if you’ve never seen it.”
Some of the other popular teams participating are Vitality, NAVI, FaZe Clan, G2 and defending champions FURIA, who will all descend on Fort Worth looking for their share of $1 million.
