BLAST Eyes Mongolia, Riot Weighs Betting Deals in Esports Business Shuffle

Three business moves this month show where esports money is heading: BLAST is taking a top-tier Counter-Strike 2 event to Mongolia, Riot Games is evaluating prediction market partnerships for its leagues, and betting operator 1xBet has extended its deal with tournament organiser PGL. Each one says something about growth, and about how closely betting is now tied to competitive gaming.

BLAST heads to Ulaanbaatar

BLAST will host a tier-one Counter-Strike 2 tournament in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, in May 2027, in partnership with the Mongolian Esports Association. The event will feature 16 teams and a $1.25 million prize pool. The move follows the rise of Mongolian team The MongolZ, whose results at the BLAST Austin Major and victory at the 2025 Esports World Cup turned Mongolia into one of Counter-Strike’s most passionate new markets.

Riot looks at prediction markets

According to a Bloomberg report published on September 10, 2026, Riot Games is evaluating partnerships with prediction market companies Polymarket and Kalshi covering VALORANT and League of Legends. Riot’s Joe Hixson said the company is “evaluating with a focus on safeguarding competitive integrity, potential value for teams, impact on the fan experience, and alignment with broader ecosystem goals.” No deal has been confirmed.

The step builds on Riot’s 2025 decision to allow betting sponsorships for teams in some of its leagues, a major shift for a publisher that had long kept gambling brands at a distance. Prediction markets sit in a grey area: supporters describe them as trading platforms, while critics see them as betting under another name.

1xBet and PGL extend

PGL has extended its partnership with 1xBet through the end of 2029, keeping the operator as exclusive bookmaker partner for PGL’s Dota 2 and Counter-Strike events. The deal covers logo placement on broadcasts, social media and fan activations. PGL said the extension would help it “develop new formats, reach wider audiences, and work on projects designed not just for one season, but for years to come.” Elsewhere, Saudi organisation Twisted Minds signed an analytics partnership with Shikenso to track sponsorship value, and Riot partnered with Coinbase on a VALORANT tournament paying its prize in Bitcoin.

Why it matters

Sponsorship deals fund prize pools, salaries and events, so the direction of this money shapes the scene players and fans see. BLAST’s Mongolia event is a test of whether new markets can support tier-one tournaments outside North America and Europe. Riot’s interest in prediction markets and PGL’s long-term betting deal show how central gambling-related revenue has become.

For the GCC, this matters in a specific way. Gambling is prohibited across most of the region, with the UAE’s newly regulated commercial gaming sector a limited exception. As betting and prediction brands spread across global broadcasts, regional teams, event organisers and sponsors will need to navigate local rules on what they can promote. The Middle East’s own esports growth is largely backed by government and non-betting sponsors, which gives the region a different financial model from much of the global scene.