The Australian Open has announced that the Fortnite Summer Smash, the largest competitive gaming event in the region, will be hosted at the popular tennis event in 2020. The tournament will take place at Melbourne Park over a two-day period, Feb. 1 – 2, with a $500,000 AUD prize pool up for grabs.
Fortnite Summer Smash 2020
“We’re excited to build on the success of the Fortnite Summer Smash by expanding it to a two-day event held during the finals weekend of Australian Open 2020,” said Craig Tiley, Tournament Director for the Australian Open, in a release. “Each year we look for ways to make the Australian Open bigger and new opportunities to attract more people to our events.”
“The Fortnite Summer Smash will again see some of the biggest gamers from around the world do battle just hours before the world’s tennis players compete for the AO title,” Tiley continued. The first day will feature a Charity Professional Amateur event with a $100,000 AUD prize pool. This will be followed by a solos championship tournament with the remaining $400,000 AUD prize pool.
The 2019 inaugural event saw Fortnite content creators like Lannan “Lazarbeam” Eacott, Lachlan “Lachlan” Ross Power, and Benjamin “DrLupo” Lupo participate. Other notables included influencers like Vikkstar, Loserfruit, Muselk, and Valkyrae teaming up with Australian music artists Peking Duk, Dave Hughes, and Nick Kyrgios in the charity tournament.
Australian Open integration
Tickets will be offered at a price of $10 for children and $54 for adults. Fans will also be offered the ability to purchase front row tickets to be closer to the action. The ticket will give them access to the entire Australian Open, which also includes the Australian Open Live Stage performance featuring singers Bastille and Ziggy Alberts on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
The collaboration between one of the world’s biggest sports events with competitive gaming is great for Australia. The 2019 event generated 11.3 million YouTube views and over 100,000 consecutive views on live stream — a feat they hope to surpass this time.
