As the esports calendar for 2024 wraps up with Mobile Legends Bang Bang’s M6 World Championship, it’s time to reflect on a remarkable year for competitive gaming. From groundbreaking tournaments to regional leagues that captivated millions, 2024 was a banner year for esports viewership.
Drawing on data from Esports Charts, here are the top five most-watched esports events of the year, excluding Chinese viewership and platforms like Facebook Gaming.
5. LCK Spring 2024
The League of Legends LCK Spring split showcased why South Korea remains a powerhouse in esports. The tournament peaked at 2.65 million viewers, significantly outperforming the Summer split.
Despite falling short in the finals, fan-favorite T1 drove massive engagement, with the team accumulating over 12 million more hours watched than the eventual winners, Gen.G. This split was a testament to the influence of T1 and the intense rivalry within the South Korean scene.
4. Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) 2024
The League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) continued to push boundaries, becoming the most popular edition in the tournament’s history. Held in Chengdu, China, MSI 2024 peaked at 2.82 million viewers and was won by Gen.G.
Notably, this edition surpassed the viewership of Worlds 2017 and 2018, further solidifying MSI’s place as a premier international esports event.
3. MPL Indonesia Season 14
Mobile esports surged forward in 2024, with Mobile Legends: Bang Bang’s MPL Indonesia Season 14 achieving an impressive 4 million viewers at its peak.
Marking a dramatic improvement over Season 13, this iteration featured Team Liquid ID defeating RRQ Hoshi in a thrilling finale. MPL Indonesia remains unmatched in the mobile esports space, with numbers rivaling even major PC regional leagues like the LCK.
2. M6 World Championship
The Mobile Legends: Bang Bang M6 World Championship narrowly edged out MPL Indonesia Season 14, peaking at 4.13 million viewers. While this number fell short of the 2023 edition’s record-breaking 5 million viewers, the tournament saw significant growth in average viewership metrics.
Southeast Asia continued to dominate the mobile esports scene, solidifying Mobile Legends as a force to be reckoned with.
1. 2024 League of Legends World Championship
Claiming the top spot once again is the League of Legends World Championship, setting a new viewership benchmark with an astounding 6.91 million peak viewers.
Since Esports Charts began tracking data in 2017, Worlds has been the most-viewed esports event every year except 2021. The 2024 edition outperformed its 2023 predecessor by 500,000 viewers, further elevating its status as the pinnacle of competitive gaming.
Conclusion
The year 2024 solidified esports’ global dominance, with record-breaking viewership numbers across multiple games and platforms. From South Korea’s LCK to Southeast Asia’s Mobile Legends scene, the diversity of esports audiences has never been more evident.
As League of Legends and Counter-Strike prepare for ecosystem changes in 2025, the next year promises to bring even more excitement and innovation to the competitive gaming landscape.
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