Worlds 2024 Draws Record Viewership with Start of Swiss Stage

The 2024 League of Legends World Championship, commonly known as Worlds 2024, commenced its main stage on October 3 with the Swiss format matches. Following a tightly contested Play-In stage, teams such as MAD Lions and KOI have advanced to join the world’s elite in the pursuit of the Summoner’s Cup.

According to viewership analytics by Esports Charts, the first day of the main event attracted millions of viewers globally, setting a new series viewership record. Notably, the involvement of prominent teams like T1, alongside the substantial Korean viewership, significantly amplified the event’s reach.

The qualifying teams from diverse regions have bolstered international viewership, with substantial followage observed from Spanish co-casting star Ibai, who co-owns KOI. In terms of viewership dynamics, Vietnamese, Brazilian, and Chinese-speaking audiences showed strong support, showcasing the event’s global appeal. It is, however, worth noting that statistics from Chinese livestreaming platforms were not incorporated into the overall data due to reliability issues.

The use of the Swiss Stage format, which begins with best-of-one matches, allows all teams to participate on the opening day, catering to a plethora of audience preferences worldwide. This format contributed to the event attaining over 14.2 million hours watched on its opening day, an increase of 52.7% compared to the previous year.

The day witnessed a peak of 2.82 million concurrent viewers, particularly during T1’s match, which attracted a notable Korean audience. Korean viewership, dormant during the Play-In stage due to a lack of local teams, surged on the first day of the main event, accounting for the largest portion of the day’s peak audience at 734,600 viewers.

Beyond Korean fans, other regional audiences, such as the Vietnamese and Brazilian contingents, also displayed substantial engagement. Vietnamese viewership reached 529,300 peak viewers, marking it as the highest for a non-playoff match in the region’s history. Meanwhile, Japanese viewership lagged, possibly due to the absence of the Fukuoka SoftBank HAWKS in the main stage.

Channel-specific data from Esports Charts highlighted key viewership trends, with the official YouTube Live broadcast dominating alongside other streaming platforms. Streams reached their peaks during matches involving highly followed teams like T1 and its central rivalry against Chinese teams.

Overall, the start of the Swiss Stage in Worlds 2024 exemplified its capability to unite League of Legends enthusiasts worldwide, surpassing even the records set by last year’s event. With the tournament still ongoing, monitoring the evolving viewership statistics will provide insights into its continued global impact.