Worlds 2024 Finals is the most-watched esports match in history

The 2024 League of Legends (LoL) World Championship, known as Worlds 2024, crowned T1 as back-to-back champions and marked their fifth title — a record no other esports team has achieved. This historical moment was not only witnessed by fans at The O2 Arena in London, but was also celebrated by viewers watching the stream from home.

As reported by Esports Charts, the Finals series, a thrilling best-of-five (Bo5) matchup between T1 and BLG, drew a peak viewership of 6.9 million and made it the most-watched esports match in history. These viewership numbers excluded audiences from Chinese platforms like Douyu, Huya, and Bilibili, as well as streams on X, making the actual numbers easily exceed 7 million.

The statistic shows that YouTube and Twitch were the favorite streaming platforms for LoL fans, with YouTube peaking at 3.3 million viewers and Twitch at 2.2 million. Korean fans showed overwhelming support for the last standing LCK representative, reaching a peak of 1.6 million viewers.

Vietnamese fans showed impressive enthusiasm, with viewership peaking at 1.1 million. Despite their representative team, GAM Esports, exiting early in the tournament, Vietnamese fans remained highly engaged on social media and in live chats. Their passion was further fueled by GAM’s CEO, TK Nguyen, whose popular “It’s GAM Time!” catchphrase added extra excitement to the event.

Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok’s iconic statement, “T1 is the past, the present, and the future,” made in the Semifinals teaser, also gained traction as T1 now holds the top 5 most-watched Worlds matches across all years. The last three Worlds Finals, all featuring T1, hold the top 3 positions, while semifinals from the previous two years occupy fourth and fifth place.

In addition to the matches themselves, Worlds teaser videos featuring T1 have also gained significant popularity. The Worlds 2024 Semifinals teaser "The Believer and the God" garnered 1.4 million views, while the Finals teaser "Make Them Believe" achieved 1.5 million views.

Last year's teasers were even more impressive, with "The Glory," which popularized Faker's quote, "The fourth trophy is for my teammates," reaching 1.9 million views. Additionally, "Legends Never Die," which showcased T1's attempt to stop JDG's golden road, recorded an impressive 2.6 million views.

Before the Worlds 2024 Finals, fans were treated to an electrifying opening ceremony, which set a new record with 4.2 million peak viewers, surpassing the previous high of 3.3 million in 2022 which features Lil Nas X, Jackson Wang, Edda Hayes, and Louis Leibfried. In 2023, the opening ceremony with NewJeans and Heartsteel attracted 2.5 million viewers.

This year’s ceremony featured Ashnikko performing "Paint the Town Blue" from the Arcane Season 2 soundtrack, followed by "Still Here" by Forts and Tiffany Aris, and concluded with Linkin Park’s performance of this year’s anthem, "Heavy is the Crown." Despite the prior criticism to the anthem, the performance at the opening ceremony has received nothing but praise.

The excitement reached a high point as Linkin Park’s new vocalist, Emily Armstrong, unveiled the trophy on stage with a powerful shout, setting the stage for the introductions of T1 and BLG players. Linkin Park's performance had been eagerly anticipated by fans ever since rumors began circulating back in September.

While T1 and Faker consistently draw massive viewership, the team’s future remains uncertain, with contracts for four players set to expire in mid-November. The question now is whether T1 will retain their roster and pursue a sixth championship, potentially breaking yet another viewership milestone.

Stay tuned on esports.gg for more news and updates.