Rio de Janeiro to host IEM Fall 2024
After the completion of the PGL Copenhagen Major, ESL has announced that IEM Fall 2024 will be played in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from October 7th to October 13th. The event will be hosted in the same venue as the IEM Rio Major, the Jeunesse Arena, now known as Farmasi Arena. Fans will only be able to attend the final three days of the competition.
IEM Rio 2024 will feature 16 teams and a $250,000 prize pool. The online qualifiers will be kicking off right after the player break ends, but North American teams will have a couple of weeks to prepare, as the NA Open Qualifier #1 begins on August 14th.
The event will invite four teams based on the ESL World Ranking, six will be attending due to being part of the Louvre Agreement, and one will receive a Local Hero invitation. The remaining five will have to qualify, as Europe has two spots to claim, while the rest of the regions, NA, SA, and Asia, will have one each.
The event will follow the usual format, with two groups of eight teams playing for three spots from each group in the playoffs.
The North American Open Qualifier #1 starts on August 14th and ends the day after, with Open Qualifier #2 happening from the 18th to the 19th of August. The Closed Qualifier will begin on August 28th and it ends on the next day, with the winner claiming the North American spot in IEM Rio 2024. Teams can already sign up for both open qualifiers.