Evil Geniuses reportedly sold its spot as a partnered BLAST team to Cloud9 for a sum of roughly $900,000, according to Counter-Strike 2 caster and figure Chad “SPUNJ” Burchill.
SPUNJ shared the claim on the most recent episode of the HLTV Confirmed podcast, saying that multiple “reputable” people had told him the sale figure. As mentioned in Dust2’s coverage of the sale, the BLAST partner spot now owned by C9 is only good for the next year with Valve’s deadline for the termination of partner league systems in CS2 set for the beginning of 2025.
As put by SPUNJ during the episode, C9 has effectively paid 900,000 “dollary-doos” for “essentially two group stages” as well as a “significant” revenue share with BLAST that would “cover more than 50 percent” of the cost the organization paid.
The sale of the slot to C9 was made official on Dec. 17, bringing EG’s seemingly inevitable departure from CS2 closer to fruition. In its statement, Evil Geniuses CEO Chris DeAppolonio noted that the organization will “look forward to supporting NA [CS2] talent within the league from afar.” Just yesterday, EG parted ways with two members of its starting roster in Paytyn “junior” Johnson and Jeorge “Jeorge” Endicott.
EG’s exit from various esports has been in the spotlight for the past couple of months. Longtime reporter Richard Lewis reported that the organization was considering exits from both the LCS and CS2 back in early November, with the former coming true just a few weeks later. It appears that one of the only titles the organization will continue competing in for 2024 will be VALORANT, but likely without the roster that won a world championship just a couple of months ago.
EG’s last official CS2 match was Dec. 7 in the ESL Challenger League for North America.
