We've heard about the dates for Dota 2 The International 2019 a few days ago from Vici Gaming’ article. However, recently, we have officially received the official dates from Valve, through their trustworthy Twitter account.
About The International
For those who don’t know, The International, or TI, is an annual Dota 2 tournament by Valve. It is undoubtedly the biggest and the most prestigious event for any professional and casual players to participate/spectate in the Major Championship circuit.
The first International was in 2011, where it unveiled Dota 2 to the world. Since 2013, the community started to contribute to the prize pool by purchasing battle pass. Will millions of dollars on the line each and every year, The International has made itself a name to be the biggest esports tournament of all time, regarding the prize pool.
Dota 2 - The International 2019
Back to The International 2019, The Main Event shall take place between Aug 20th and Aug 25th. Prior to that, the group stage shall take place from the 16th to the 18th of August as well. As Valve confirmed the dates, they are finalizing the details to start selling tickets. We should expect tickets to go on sales in the next few weeks.
For this specific year, China will host TI 9 in the famous Mercedes Benz Arena in Shanghai. Previously, The International was in Cologne, Germany (2011), Seattle, U.S. (2012 - 2017) and Vancouver, Canada (2018).
It’s BATTLE PASS time, lads!
As we’re getting closer and closer to TI, Dota 2 fans are expecting the arrival of TI9 Battle Pass. Besides cool gifts, bonuses and cosmetics, people treat the Battle Pass as a way to contribute to TI’s prize pool.
In the last few years, the community has increased the overall prize pool of TI by a significant amount, just by purchasing the Battle Pass. We haven’t got legit information on this just yet, so make sure you stick around for the soonest update.
)Source: https://liquipedia.net/dota2/The_International)