Top 10 highest viewed esports events of 2021

Taking the top spot of MLBB's most viewed esports event ever is the M3 World Championship, which took place earlier this month. The tournament, ... 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Home News&Insights LatestNews Features Insights Interviews Opinion Games BattleRoyale ApexLegends Fortnite PUBG CollectibleCardGames Hearthstone Magic:TheGathering FGC MOBA Dota2 LeagueofLegends SMITE Mobile Shooters CallofDuty Counter-Strike:GlobalOffensive Halo GearsofWar Overwatch Paladins Quake RainbowSixSiege VALORANT SportsSimulation eFootballPES FIFA NBA2K NFL NHL RocketLeague SimulationRacing Commercial Events Gambling Investments,Mergers,&Acquisitions Legal MediaRights Partnerships&Sponsorships Personnel Podcasts Digest Focus Insight Resources AboutUs Calendar PRs(ESIAnnouncements) Newsletters TheESJ ESIConnect Events TheClutch ESIHallofFame FutureESIEvents ESIEvents2022 ESIWashingtonDC2022 ESISingapore2022 ESILondon2022 PreviousESIEvents ESIDigitalWinter2021 ESILondon2021 EsportsInsiderOxfordStreetPopUp ESIDigitalSummer2021 ESIDigitalSpring2021 ESIDigitalWinter2020 ESIHallofFame2020 ESIDigitalSummer ESIDigitalSummit ESIICEBettingTour2020 ESIAutumnForumSeries2019 ESILondon2019 ESISummerForumSeries2019 ESIHallofFame2019 ESINewYork2019 ESIEsportsBettingTouratICE2019 ESIWinterForumSeries2019 ESISpringForumSeries2019 ESIHallofFame2018 TheClutch Directory Marketplace EsportsInsider HomeCommercialDataTop10highestviewedesportseventsof2021 MarketsAsiaCommercialShootersCS:GODataMOBADota2EuropeFeaturesGamesInsightsLatestNewsLeagueofLegendsNorthAmericaVALORANT TwitterLinkedinWhatsappFacebook Fromaviewershipstandpoint,2021hasseennewrecordsbebrokenandtitlessurgetothenextlevelofpopularity. Whetheritistraditionalgamessteadilydevelopingfanbasesormobileesportscontinuingitsgrowth,theyearhasseenmanyesportstournamentsamassover1mpeakviewers—22eventsinfact.Astheyeardrawstoaclose,EsportsInsider,incollaborationwithEsportsCharts,detailsthetop10highestviewedesportseventsof2021(excludingChineseviewership). 10.Mid-SeasonInvitational2021  Imagecredit:RiotGames Cominginatnumber10isLeagueofLegends’Mid-SeasonInvitational2021.Thetitle’ssecond-largestinternationaleventgarneredapeakviewershipof1.83mandanaverageviewershipofover711,465.  TohighlightthecontinuedpopularityoftheMOBAtitle,LeagueofLegendsisonlyoneoftwogamestohavemorethanoneentryinthislist.ThepeakviewershipwasrecordedduringDWGKIAvsRNG,withDWGKIAalsobeingtheteamwiththehighestaverageviewershipat924,130. Interestingly,theteamwiththesecond-highestaverageviewershipwaspaiNGaming(879,770).TheBrazilianorganisation’speakviewershipfigurecameduringitsclashwithMADLionsduringthegroupstagewith1.15mviewersturningin.  9.MLBBSoutheastAsiaCup2021 Imagecredit:Moonton/MobileLegendsBangBang MobileLegends:BangBang’sSoutheastAsiaCup2021isninthonthelist,recordinganimpressive2.28mpeakviewers.Thetournament,whichwasultimatelywonbyPhilippines-basedesportsorganisationExecration,garneredanaverageviewershipof514,617andover29.42mhourswatchedacrossits57hoursofruntime. Thesuccessoftheeventfurtherhighlightsthescene’simpressivegrowth.MLBB’sSoutheastAsiaCup2019,whichwastheevent’spreviousedition,recorded276,579inpeakviewers.  8:MPLIDSeason8 Imagecredit:MobileLegendsBangBang/MPLIndonesia MLBB’sIndonesianleagueistheonlyregionalcompetitiontomakeitintothetop10mostreceivedesportseventsthisyear.Generatingapeakviewershipof2.39m,theleaguewasactuallythemostpopularesportseventinAugustandSeptember,beatingthelikesoftheLCK,LECandtheESLProLeague. Theovertwo-monthcompetitionreacheditspeakviewershipnumberinOctober’slowerbracketfinalbetweenONICandEVOSLegends.ItishardtofullydecipherhowmuchMLBBhasgrowninpopularitywithregardtotheSoutheastAsiaCup.However,thestatisticsbetweenMPLID’sseventhandeightheditionsalreadyhighlightconstantgrowth. MPLIDSeason8garneredover500,000morepeakviewersthanitspreviouseditionandanextra100,000averageviewersthroughoutitsruntime.ThisisseeminglymoreimpressiveconsideringSeason7onlyconcludedinMay2021.  7:TheInternational10 Imagecredit:Dota2/Valve CominginatnumbersevenisDOTA2’slongstandingesportsspectacular,TheInternational.Theevent’stentheditionwasDOTA2’smostsuccessfulesportseventever,recordingapeakviewershipof2.74mwithviewersspendingmorethan107mhourswatchingtournamentbroadcasts.Thelatterstatisticisthefourthhighestinesportsever,withonlyLeagueofLegends’WorldChampionshipsrecordingalargerstatistic.  WhenbreakingdownwhichteamswerepopularatTI10,TeamSpiritwasthemost-watchedside(intermsofaverageviewership).TheRussianesportsorganisationrecordedanaverageviewershipof805,216.ThiswasfollowedbyPSG.LGD(767,762),TeamSecret(561,481)andOG(517,908). Despitebeingoneofesports’‘oldguard’titles,TheInternationalseemstobegainingmoreandmorepopularitywithinthesector. 6:PGLMajorStockholm2021  Image:PGL Alsorecordingapeakviewershipof2.74m,albeitstillbeingslightlyhigherthanTI10,wasPGLMajorStockholm2021.CS:GO’sfirstMajorinovertwoyearsfailedtodisappointbybecomingthemost-watchedtournamentinthetite’sdiscipline.   AccordingtoEsportsCharts,thepreviousrecordheldbyELEAGUEMajor2017was1.33m,whichis52percentlessthanthenewfigure.Inaddition,fourofPGLMajorStockholm2021’ssevenplayoffmatchessecuredhigherpeakviewershipfiguresthantheELEAGUEMajor2017. WithmanywonderingwhatCS:GO’sfuturewouldbein2021nowthatVALORANT’sesportsecosystemhascommenced,thesefiguresarguethatCS:GOisheretostaywhenitcomestoS-tieresportsevents. 5:M2WorldChampionship Credit:Moonton Travellingbacktotheworldofmobileesports,MobileLegends:BangBang’sM2WorldChampionshipplacesfifthwithapeakviewershipof3.08m. BeingthefirstoftwoMLBBworldchampionshipsin2021,theeventwasthetitle’shighestviewedtournamenteverandcurrentlyranksseventhinall-timeesportsevents.AccordingtoEsportsCharts,thetournament’seventualwinners,BRENEsports,recorded21.43mhourswatchedontheteam’smatchesalone.Despitethat,itwasactuallyM2’sthird-placeteam,RRQHoshi,garneringthebestaverageviewershipattheevent(1.10m).  4:M3WorldChampionship Credit:Moonton TakingthetopspotofMLBB’smostviewedesportseventeveristheM3WorldChampionship,whichtookplaceearlierthismonth.Thetournament,wonbyTierOne’sBlacklistInternational,securedapeakviewershipof3.19mwithatotalof62.61mhourswatchedbyfans. DespitebeinghigherthantheM2WorldChampionship,itisimportanttonotethatthecompetitiondidhavealoweraverageviewershipfortheevent–M2recorded689,737whereasM3garnered602,588.This,however,canbearesultofM3havingasignificantlylongerairtimeof104hourscomparedto62hours.  OverallthisisMLBB’sfourthentryin2021’stopten,whichismorethananyothertitle.Despitenotsecuringthetopspotintermsofviewershipthisyear,2021hasshowcasedthegrowingpopularityofMLBB,atleastfromaviewershipstandpoint. 3:PUBGMobileGlobalChampionshipSeason0 (ESIIllustration)Imagecredit:PUBGMobile/JamesYang DespitestartinginNovember2020,PUBGMobile’sGlobalChampionshipSeason0makesthelistduetoitsconclusion–andlargestpeakviewership–occurringinJanuary2021.Recordinganimpressive3.80mpeakviewership,thetitlehasmanagedtomaintainrelativestrengththroughout2021. Thetitlerecordedanaverageviewershipofapproximately528,000acrossits122hourairtime,withtheevent’smostpopularperiodbeingitsRound1,Day1Finals.Intermsofpeakviewers,thetournamentperformedbestacrossIndonesian(2.12m),Arabic(494,393)andRussian(415,412)broadcasts.  2:LeagueofLegends2021WorldChampionship Imagecredit:RiotGames Cominginsecondisthe2021LeagueofLegendsWorldChampionshipswithastaggeringpeakviewershipof4.01m(again,excludingChineseviewership).Thisisnowthetitle’smostviewedtournamentandthefirstcompetitivePCesportseventtoattractover4mpeakviewers. Inaddition,theeventalsoholdsthetitleformosthourswatchedbyanesportstournamenteverrecorded(174.82m).LeagueofLegendsishighlyregardedasthebiggesttitleinesportsanditsviewershipfigureshighlightthat.GiventhatChineseviewershipfiguresareexcludedinthelist,thesenumberscouldbesignificantlyhigher.  Infact,RiotGamesissuedanannouncementstatingthatitsGrandFinalseriesbetweenEDwardGamingandDWGKIArecordedanaudienceofover73mpeakviewers.ThisnotonlyhighlightsthepopularityofLeagueofLegends,buthowmainstreamesportsisinChina.Whilsttheseviewershipfigureslookimpressive,Chineseviewershipstatisticsaredifficulttoconfirmduetoplatformsinthecountrynotpublicisingnumbers. 1:FreeFireWorldSeries2021Singapore  Imagecredit:Garena AccordingtoEsportsCharts,themostviewedesportseventof2021intermsofpeakviewersistheFreeFireWorldSeries2021Singapore.Themobiletitlegarneredapeakviewershipof5.41mandanaverageviewershipof2.08macrossitsshortnonehourairtime. WhilstHindi(1.95m)andIndonesian(1,03m)peakviewershipnumberswereparticularlyhigh,whatnotablyhelpedsecurethisrecordfigurewasthetitle’spopularityinBrazil.Thetitle’sPortuguesebroadcastsatonepointreachedapeakviewershipof1.06m.Moreover,itsSpanishbroadcastsalsorecordedfiguresuptoapproximately890,000. FreeFireWorldSeries2021Singaporeis,asofthiswriting,notonlythehighestviewedesportseventof2021,butthehighestviewedinhistory. Giventhatsomanytitleshavegrownanddevelopedthisyear—withmostgamesbreakingpreviousrecordsforitsrespectivedisciplines—2021hasbeenanunbelievableyearforesports.It’llbeinterestingtoseeifthemobileesportstrendcontinues,orwhethernewtitlessuchasVALORANTorevenHalowillstrikeachallengefor2022’slist.    SignuptoourESIDispatchNewsletter RELATEDARTICLESMOREFROMAUTHOR Personnel BestsellingauthorJamesFreynamedCEOofAndbox Partnerships&Sponsorships TeamSpiritextendsParimatchpartnership Interviews “Esports2.0”:DiscussingESLGaming’smobileesportsambitions Commercial Exclusive:Gen.GCEOArnoldHurbreaksdownNBA2K‘TuneUp’programme Partnerships&Sponsorships TeamSpiritannouncespartnershipwithSecretlab Partnerships&Sponsorships SKGamingagreesBeyondNRGpartnership ABOUTUSEsportsInsideroperatesacrossthreepillars;Media,EventsandConnect.We'reallthingsesportsbusiness.Contact[email protected]withPRsandpitches.Contactus:[email protected]FOLLOWUS Aboutus Advertise Newsletters ESIEvents ESIContentTransparency MORESTORIES Personnel BestsellingauthorJamesFreynamedCEOofAndbox IvanŠimić-January11,20220