When it comes to the best esports events, few are as valuable or exciting as the many Dota 2 tournaments. It’s easily one of the most popular competitive platforms in history, and every year, tens of millions of dollars in prize money is awarded. There’s a packed schedule in 2024, featuring the overwhelmingly lucrative The International and prolific, top-tier tournaments.
If you’re interested in esports betting, you’ll need to know the best Dota 2 tournaments to target in 2024. To that end, we’ve compiled a handy guide featuring a breakdown of these all-important events. It’s a busy year ahead – here are the events to keep an eye on.
The Most Valuable Esports Tournament in History
In 2021, more than $60 million was won through Dota 2 tournaments and in 2022, 1.7 million live viewers tuned in to watch the most anticipated Dota 2 Tournament of the year live from Singapore, The International 11, a remarkable tournament with previous winners Team Tundra taking home $8.5 million between them.
The 2021 International wasn’t just the biggest prize pool in Dota 2 history but in the history of esports as an industry. While we know the still high total wasn’t quite as grand for The International event in 2023, many players from around the world will be wondering just how much money will be up for grabs in Dota 2 grandest event in 2024, The International 13.
Image credit: Valve
For Dota 2 betting, no tournament is bigger – it’s one of the most popular competitions in esports as a whole. Each year, millions tune in to watch the event live, and it’s covered by every esports betting site out there. The most recent International 12 was held in October 2023. In 2022, The International 10 was also hosted in October, so we’ll likely see this year’s The International 13 be held in September, if not another Autumn month, as has been the case in the past.
If you want to consider betting on Dota 2, you cannot miss this tournament. The world’s finest Dota 2 teams descend on this event, and only one can walk away the ultimate victor of Dota 2’s The International.
Dota 2 Tournaments – ESL Pro Tour
Headling the esports tournaments for Dota in 2024 is the ESL Pro Tour. The second season of this prolific tour offers a number of tournaments where teams earn EPT Points useful for further seeding.
Indeed, for EPT Season 2, EPT Points and leaderboard are new and the events include 3 DreamLeagues and 2 ESL One events! In addition, events feature Open & Closed Qualifiers.
| Tournament | Dates |
|---|---|
| DreamLeague Season 22 | February 25th to March 10th |
| ESL One Birmingham | April 22-28th |
| DreamLeague Season 23 | May 20-26th |
| DreamLeague Season 24 | October 27 to November 10th |
| ESL One Asia | December 9-15th |
Each tournament features a whopping $1,0000,000 prize pool and a huge drop of EPT Points, teams ranging from 12 to 20.
While betting on Dota 2 Pro Circuit tournaments is no longer possible, the ESL Pro Tour looks to be the newest high end tournament.
Here’s a sneak peek at the 2025 Dota 2 Calendar announced recently:
- DreamLeague Season 25 – February 16th to March 2nd
- ESL One Tournament (Europe) – April
- DreamLeague S26 – May 12th to May 15th
- Riyadh Masters – TBD
- DreamLeague S27 – November 3rd to 9th
- ESL One Tournament (Asia) – December
Liga 2024 Dota – $2,000,000
A new league was announced specifically for South America by ESB Dota 2, namely the Liga 2024 Dota 2 League.
Returning after years of supporting Valve, the $2,000,000 league features three tournaments and innovative formats as listed:
- Tour 1 – April 3-14th – $500,000
- Tour 2 – July 24th to August 4th – $500,000
- Tour 3 – November 27th to December 6th – $1,000,000
This LAN league looks to host the best competition in South America, replacing the former Dota Pro League in the region.
Esports World Cup – Riyadh Masters 2024
Returning to Riyadh in July, Dota is once again part of the Esports World Cup.
Promising to offer a massive prize pool for the best Dota teams in the world, Riyadh Masters is back. Last year the tournament offered a $17,000,000 prize and this year, it looks to be even larger.
For more details, we recommend checking our our Esports World Cup betting guide!
PGL Dota 2 Tournaments
In this new structure, PGL has broken the silence with a thrilling announcement – revealing that they’ll be hosting a total of eight $1 million tournaments from 2024 to 2026.
Starting with the 2024 season, the following tournaments have been confirmed:
- PGL Wallachia – May 10-19th – $1,000,000 event
- PGL TBD – November 15-24th – $1,000,000 event
Meanwhile, for the 2025 and 2026 Dota Calendar, the following tournaments are confirmed, each with $1,000,000:
| PGL Dota Tournament | Qualifiers | Main Event |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 Tournament #1 | January 5-12th 2025 | March 6-15th 2025 |
| 2025 Tournament #2 | March 23-30th 2025 | April 18-27th 2025 |
| 2025 Tournament #3 | September 21-28th 2025 | November 7-16th 2025 |
| 2026 Tournament #1 | January 4-11th 2026 | March 6-15th 2026 |
| 2026 Tournament #2 | March 22-29th 2026 | April 17-26th 2026 |
| 2026 Tournament #3 | September 27th to October 4th 2026 | November 6-15th 2026 |
Each tournament will offer open qualifiers, making sure everyone can fight for the prize. Only the 16 best Dota teams get to compete for the million-dollar prize.
BLAST SLAM – New Dota Circuit
Shaking things up, one of the most popular esports event organizers, BLAST, is getting involved with Dota 2. The last time they did so was back in 2020 with a few online events.
Announcing their new BLAST SLAM circuit, five tournaments with over $100,000 in prize pools have been revealed with the following dates:
- Event 1 – 26th November to 1st December 2024
- Event 2 – 4th to 9th February 2025
- Event 3 – 6th to 11th May 2024
- Event 4 – 14th to 19th October 2025
- Event 5 – 25th to 30th November 2025
Beyond bringing experience and prowess, boasting a portfolio of many other esports, BLAST is also committing to offering player statistics and a general content hub for all things Dota.
BetBoom Dacha – More Dota Tournaments
BetBoom in 2023 hosted their first major tournament for Dota.
For 2024, they’re re-partnering with FISSURE to organize two further $1,000,000 tournaments.
The first tournament kicks off in January/February in Dubai, UAE, featuring the top 12 teams in the world. Right now, invites include Team Spirit, Gaimin Gladiators and LGD Gaming followng The International 2023 performances.
Dota 2 On An Olympic Scale
We can’t talk about all the Dota 2 tournaments without mentioning the Asian Games. This event has been officially recognised by the International Olympic Committee, with claims that this is the ‘second-largest multi-sport event’ after the Olympics themselves. Like the Olympics, this event is held once every four years, and it features the best Asian esports competitors that the region has to offer.
For these competitors, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, as they had the honour of representing their country on an extremely important stage – the event looks to return in the coming years.
More to Come
Of course, it doesn’t end with these events – there are plenty more Dota 2 tournaments to come in 2024. Every year, the Dota 2 schedule is packed with high-end events, such as the ESL One regional competitions and the Dota 2 Championship League. These exciting tournaments boast tantalising prize pools, and they’re spread out over the course of a year.
Moreover for 2024, more third-party tournaments are expected to fill up the schedule following the end of the Dota Pro Circuit.
There are also sporadic, ad-hoc events that take place, hosted by various organisers and supported by the best esports and Dota 2 betting sites. As you can imagine, this popular esports title boasts unparalleled esports betting opportunities.
Whether you’re new to betting or you’re an industry veteran, you can’t be sleeping on the top Dota 2 tournaments in 2024.
