Previewing Word Cup 2024
The wait is over; the Scrabble event of the year is here. Let's get after it.
It was way back on Dec. 8 - more than seven months ago now! - when we first announced that the CoCo championship for 2024 would be this summer's Word Cup in Albuquerque. Ever since then, we've been plugging away - planning the tournament, promoting it, recruiting players, building the hype. It's all been building up to this. Come this weekend, the biggest, baddest CSW championship in North America gets underway.
Here's just a taste of everything we're looking forward to in just a few days' time:
An incredible week in Albuquerque, New Mexico. ABQ should be a wonderful host city for our marquee event. We can all look forward to beautiful sights to see, weather that's sunny without being too sweltering (hey, some of the daily highs on the forecast are as low as 93!), and delicious local cuisine. Get ready to gorge yourselves on green chile everything, folks.
A jam-packed schedule, featuring 31 games of Scrabble over 4.5 days. We'll get underway on Saturday morning, then play seven games each from Saturday through Tuesday. After a final three-game session on Wednesday morning, a champion will be crowned in each division.
An absolutely loaded field, featuring 52 players across two divisions. The top group is positively brimming with national champions - and not just U.S. titleholders, but champs from Canada, the United Kingdom, Nigeria, Pakistan, and more. We've also got a robust Division 2, with two dozen players getting set for a very competitive event of their own.
Big-time prize money! As promised all along, we're ponying up $10,000 for the Division 1 champion, but the hefty prizes don't end there. We're still finalizing the budget, but it's looking like we'll have somewhere in the range of $19,000 to $20,000 for CSW prizes in total, which means generous payouts for second, third, and fourth, plus sizable class prizes, as well as good money for the top performers in Div. 2.
Top-notch live coverage. We're excited to offer a state-of-the-art live streaming experience - produced by Christian and Andrew Kay, with commentary by Will Anderson (and an ensemble cast of special guests to be announced soon). We'll also keep you all posted with social media and blog updates. For everyone out there who isn't able to join us in person in Albuquerque, we'll do everything we can to keep you in the loop.
That's enough out of me - all that's left now is to play some Scrabble. We'll see you all bright and early Saturday. Let's do this.