Majors and Nationals

In the world of NAF Blood Bowl tournaments, Majors and Nationals hold a special place. Due to their significance, these tournaments, including the renowned World Cup held every four years, will have a higher impact on ranking points. Originally, Majors began as the four tournaments described in the Blood Bowl rulebook, but over time, this has expanded and evolved. The Majors now include iconic events like the NAF Championship in the UK, the Chaos Cup in the USA, the Spike Trophy in Canada, the Dungeonbowl in Germany, and the Eucalyptus Bowl in Australia. To foster a more equitable distribution of prestigious events, the NAF has introduced Nationals for countries with a significant Blood Bowl presence, but without a Major. These Nationals also contribute to the same Elo ranking boost as the Majors, highlighting their importance in the Blood Bowl landscape.

World Cup

The NAF World Cup, organized every 4 years by brave volunteers, brings together enthusiasts from around the world, fostering a competitive yet friendly atmosphere. This tournament has been constantly growing in size, with more than 2200 coaches attending the most recent edition in Alicante.

Find the winners from previous World Cups (and the Eurobowl) here.

Majors

The Majors started life as the 4 Blood Bowl tournaments from the Blood Bowl rulebook, but this has changed over time.

  • The Blood Bowl, now known as the NAF Championship (UK)
    It took place at Warhammer World in Nottingham, UK until 2012.  In May 2013 it was still in Nottingham, but moved to a shiny new venue.
  • The Chaos Cup (USA)
    It moved from Chicago to Orlando in 2024. Full details can be found on its website.
  • The Spike Trophy (Canada)
    It takes place in British Columbia. Spike and the Chaos Cup are typically scheduled within one or two weeks of each other, to encourage travellers to attend both. You can find any information on their Facebook page.
  • The Dungeonbowl (Germany)
    It is the German Major, held each year in Dusseldorf.  Website here.
  • Eucalyptus Bowl (Australia)
    Euc Bowl is the Australian Major. This was introduced in 2005 with CanCon to recognise the large Blood Bowl community who otherwise would not have access to a Major.  Check out their Facebook group.

Three other regular team tournaments with changing locations have been assigned Major status:

  • EuroBowl/EurOpen
    These sister tournaments are held annually except in World Cup years. While EuroBowl is held with squads representing participating nations, EurOpen is open to all participants.
    The 2025 event is held on October 4th/5th in Hungary. See the official website for all relevant information.
  • AusBowl
    Similarly, the two AusBowl tournaments are held annually in changing locations. The 2024 iteration will take place in Brisbane on April 15th and 16th. Check their Facebook page for details.
  • Amorical Cup
    The North American team championship takes place in calendar years that are prime numbers. Unless the sum of digits is four, then the tournament is postponed by two years. 2024 will be an exception, when it is held in Ottawa on June 1st and 2nd. Browse to the official website to learn more.

The Winners of these illustrious tournaments have their names recorded in the annals of history!

Nationals

To make the distribution of prestigious events more equitable, we have decided to introduce a new class of tournament, NAF Nationals. If a country is shown to have the tournament infrastructure required according to the below criteria, they may play host to a National in the following year:

  • Does not host an individual Major tournament (e.g. Dungeonbowl in Germany – the Majors will remain unchanged)
  • Has 100 or more active NAF members (defined as renewed memberships)
  • Has at least one tournament of over 50 coaches

The countries that merit this criteria and the respective 2025 tournaments are:

TBA = to be announced

The additional branding and the benefit of the same Elo ranking boost as the ’Major’ tournaments will help these Blood Bowling hotbeds produce some really exciting tournaments, bringing in competitors from far and wide.