CS:GO Stars Want Rio Major To Be Played In Maracanã Stadium Following One-Hour Sell Out
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has come out of the global pandemic stronger than ever, even breaking viewership records in two majors since their return. Now, ESL has finally taken a championship to Brazil, much to the delight of CS:GO's most avid fans.
For the first time ever a major championship is headed to Brazil, specifically Rio de Janeiro. After the 2020 tournament was cancelled, ESL is flying 24 of the world's greatest teams out to South America, much to the delight of the home crowd.
The region, which has had to watch the likes of Luminosity and SK Gaming's iconic roster win Major Championships over in Europe and North America, has shown just how excited they are to be hosting an event, leaving calls from players to find the biggest venue possible.
IEM Major Rio 2022 Sold Out In Under An Hour
After the tickets for the Major, kicking off in October 2022, went on sale, fans quickly found themselves stuck in overload queues, with a maximum of 18,000 available - albeit some of these will still be pre-occupied by fans who didn't get refunded when the 2020 event was cancelled. The maximum capacity sits below that of PGL Antwerp's 23,000, which was completely sold out too, and coincidentally sits as the biggest indoor crowd ever seen in esports.
However, the tickets for the Rio Major were completely snapped up in under an hour, according to ESL.
Now, the CS:GO pro community have called for a venue change and are eyeing Rio de Janeiro's 78,000 seater football stadium as the ideal option.
CS:GO Players Want IEM Rio To Be Held At Maracanã Stadium
After the sell-out went public, players were completely overwhelmed by the support, and have eyed the biggest venues available to house the avid fans.
Brazilian legend and two-time CS:GO Major winner Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo was the first to chime in with "We need a bigger place ESL. Football stadium let’s go," a sentiment also shared by current number-one player in the world Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev, who added, "Football stadium or I’m not going."
Even Team Heroic piped up with an image of the Maracana Stadium, saying, "Maybe you need to book a bigger venue".
Brazilian Football Club Athletico Paranaense has since offered up their stadium as a venue, although they are a further 11-hour drive down the Brazilian coast from Rio de Janeiro.
ESL has yet to voice their opinion as to whether a larger venue would be suitable, although it's not unreasonable to think that the Brazilian crowd would be able to fill out 78,000 seats, and the floor, should the Maracanã be on the cards.
