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Brazil hosts its first CS:GO major next year

ESL One Rio is happening

ESL is bringing its biggest competitive Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event to Brazil. ESL One Rio will be the first major of 2020, and the first major to be hosted in Brazil – or South America, for that matter. The $1 million prize pool tournament is set to kick off in May 2020, and it’ll take place in front of a certainly-raucous Rio de Janeiro crowd.

ESL’s Brazil major tournament will run in the Jeunesse Arena. All four minors will run simultaneously starting on April 26 until their conclusion on May 3. Rumours of a Brazil major kicked off a month ago, and it seems these reports have paid off. Brazil has already hosted other ESL events in the past, but this is the first competition on this scale.

“Brazil has a huge fan base and has never had a major,” ESL’s Michal Blicharz tells fans on Reddit, “and our prior CS:GO events in Brazil have been encouraging.” He also says that organisers have discussed the possibility of soundproof booths in response to the likely crowd noise.

Check out the announcement trailer below.

You’ll be able to purchase tickets at the ESL site on December 12 at 12:00 BRT – or 7:00 PST / 10:00 EST / 15:00 GMT, for the rest of the world.