Nerd Street Announces Fragadelphia as an Official Qualifier for BLAST Premier Fall Showdown for Counter Strike: Global Offensive

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – August 9, 2021 – Nerd Street Gamers, the national esports infrastructure company, announced a partnership with world-renowned BLAST Premier to host an official qualifier to the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown for Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). The qualifier will take place at the Fragadelphia 15 tournament this September 10-12 in Philadelphia, PA, and will feature a $60,000 prize pot.

The top four winners from the Fragadelphia tournament will then move on to face four invited North American CS:GO teams to fight for an invite to the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown, taking place online October 12th through  October 17th, 2021. Three of the four teams invited include GODSENT, Extra Salt and paiN, while the final team will be announced in the coming days.

“Nerd Street partnering with BLAST Premier to host an official qualifier at Fragadelphia not only increases the level of integrity for this homegrown LAN tournament, which began right here in Philadelphia, but continues to elevate esports across the United States and North America,” said Steve Csikos, Vice President of Esports Operations and Strategy at Nerd Street Gamers. “We’ve seen immense talent come out of Fragadelphia and are excited to see who emerges from this year’s tournament and goes on to compete on the global stage.”

Fragadelphia, Nerd Street’s first organized LAN tournament, began in March of 2014 as an open bring your own computer event and was created to highlight the talent of players from all skill levels. Several pro players started their competitive journey by participating in Fragadelphia tournaments over the years, including native Pennsylvanian Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski, one of the leading CS:GO players in North America, who currently plays for Team Liquid. Several VALORANT pros also started their competitive journey with Fragadelphia, including: Tyson “TenZ” Ngo, one of the top VALORANT players in the world and currently on the Sentinels’ roster; former Cloud9 trio of Ricky "⁠floppy⁠" Kemery, Josh "⁠oSee⁠" Ohm, as well as Anthony "⁠vanity⁠" Malaspina; Erick "⁠Xeppaa⁠" Bach; and Matthew “Wardell” Yu of TSM.

In addition to Nerd Street, BLAST Premier is working with partners across the world to create a qualifying series. These qualifiers will be regionalized with eight feeding into the Spring Showdown & eight feeding into the Fall Showdown. The twelve winning teams are drawn from around the World, and consists of legacy organizations, legacy rosters, and brand new players to the scene.

“North America is a hugely important region for Counter-Strike and BLAST Premier - it was vital for us to include a route into our Fall Showdown so organizations from the region get an opportunity to perform on a global scale,” said Andrew Haworth, Commissioner for BLAST Premier. “We couldn’t think of a better partner than Nerd Street Gamers to provide this platform, a company that is ingrained in North American esports and CS:GO and has vast experience in putting on successful events and tournaments over the last few years.”

Nerd Street is also celebrating its 15th Fragadelphia by launching its first in-person tournaments across the country. Since the end of July, sellout qualifier rounds have been taking place across the country at Localhost gaming and esports centers, including: Denver, CO; Oceanside, CA; Philadelphia, PA; and St. Louis, MO.

To stay up-to-date on all things Nerd Street, visit nerdstreet.com and follow @nerdstgamers on Twitter.

About Nerd Street Gamers

Nerd Street Gamers (Nerd Street) is a national network of esports facilities and events dedicated to powering competitive opportunities for gamers. The company promotes greater access to the esports industry, laying a national framework for esports talent development and high-quality gaming tournaments. Through Localhost, its gaming and esports centers across the country, the company provides opportunities for gamers of all ages and skill levels to participate in esports tournaments, camps, team training, private events like birthday parties, and hourly play for a wide variety of video games. Nerd Street has received backing from Five Below, Comcast Spectacor, SeventySix Capital, Elevate Ventures, angel investor George Miller, and Founders Fund. For more information, follow @nerdstreet and visit nerdstreet.com.

About BLAST BLAST is a global esports media network delivering world-class entertainment experiences. In 2020, BLAST saw over 146 million views and 1.5 billion minutes of content consumed across its platforms while expanding its product offering to bring over 500 hours of world-class esports to fans in multiple formats, including popular titles CS:GO, VALORANT, and DOTA 2. The esports entertainment company has over 1 million subscribers and followers and is enjoyed in over 150 territories. BLAST creates new technology, production, content, and platforms in partnership with leading brands, broadcasters, and communities across the globe.

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