A live audience and over 400,000 online viewers watched the Rocket League Championships, the biggest Rocket League tournament in the world this year, at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth during the Sept. 13 to 15 weekend. Sixteen teams from across the world competed for a prize pool of $1.2 million and the grand trophy given to the victors.
The RLCS ran for five days, but only three days of the tournament were open to public attendance. The live audience brought an intense and excited atmosphere resembling the fervor of diehard fans at an international soccer match. Fans from the U.S. and abroad brought signs, used their phone flashlights and dressed up to express their support for their favorite teams.
The RLCS was the culmination of the 2024 competitive Rocket League season, with a total of six qualifier tournaments and two major events leading up to it. The 16 team slots for the championship were divided between global regions — four for Europe, four for North America, two for Oceania, two for South America, one for the Asia-Pacific region and one for Sub-Saharan Africa.
The event started off using a Swiss-system group stage, which determines the predicted placements of the eight teams who make it to the playoffs based on how many matches each team wins, resulting in a clear winner among a group of competitors. This year’s RLCS shocked fans when the team that originally won last year’s tournament, Vitality from Europe, was knocked out at ninth place, just barely missing the mark to qualify for the playoffs.
Earlier this year, European team BDS won the Rocket League portion of the 2024 Esports World Cup, granting them a guaranteed spot within the RLCS tournament. Andy “Kassio” Landais, the coach for BDS, said in an interview for the official BDS documentary that he was inspired by the win.
“The final victory is important,” Landais said. “It takes us to a new level [where] we realize we can actually win a tournament.”
Team BDS won against the North American team G2 4-2 in the final match of the RLCS, taking home a prize of $300,000. The arena’s electrifying energy died out once the European team rose to victory, which was not lost on BDS player Evan “M0nkey M00n“ Rogez in an interview with Rocket Baguette.
“I’m the happiest guy in the world,” Rogez said. “Especially by shutting down the whole arena, it feels good.”
Plans for the 2025 RLCS tournament were announced at the live event as it closed, offering a $5 million prize pool. There will be a one-versus-one competition along with the typical three-versus-three format and last-chance qualifiers, which increases the number of teams who can compete at the world championships from four to a total of 20.