New rosters for star teams help BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2023 best Spring Finals in viewership

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The BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2023, the first step towards BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2023, concluded on July 23 after 11 days of action. As the first S-Tier CS:GO event after the summer reshuffle among the various organizations, it ended as the most popular competition in the series this year, even beating the viewership stats from the Spring Finals.

The event started on July 13 in Copenhagen, Denmark, and saw 12 teams battle it out for slots in the Fall Finals over two phases: Group Stage and Play-In Stage. It was Ninjas in Pyjamas, Heroic, and FaZe Clan who claimed the full 2.4K BLAST Premier points after finishing as the top three and booked places in the season-ending showpiece that will be held at the Royal Arena in the same city.

Team Vitality, Natus Vincere, and Astralis also booked their slots in the BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2023 after finishing in the next three positions and pocketing 1.8K BLAST Premier points. The rest of the CS:GO sides were placed in their respective regions' Fall Showdown competitions.

The BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2023 carried a total prize pool of $177.5K, with the top three taking home $27.5K. The next three sides earned $17.5K, while the other six teams were handed between $8.5K and $5.6K.

Viewership stats from the BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2023

  Essential stats and peak matches from the BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2023   

Fall Groups recorded 496K Peak Viewers during the Play-In Stage Round 2 clash between heavyweights NAVI and G2 Esports, which the former won 2:0. With a new roster that added three players, including two core pros, the Ukrainian side appeared in all five of the most popular matches, with Heroic being the only other side with multiple entries (two), reflecting the fans’ anticipation to see the team’s new e-athletes in action.

The above contest was the only one to make it to this top five list from the Play-In Stage, with the rest coming from the Group Stage. With NAVI having lost the Group B Grand Final 2-1 to Heroic, there was a chance the side would not directly qualify for the Fall Finals, instead falling into the BLAST Premier: Fall European Showdown 2023, but it eased past G2 to ease the nerves of fans across the globe.

The BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2023 hit 14.8M Hours Watched and 183K Average Viewers over an airtime of 81 hours. This easily made it one of the longest tournaments in the BLAST Premier series, with the only higher one being the BLAST Premier Spring 2023, which lasted 85 hours.

Unsurprisingly, it was NAVI that came out as the most popular side from this competition based on average online viewers. The side, led by the indomitable s1mple, constantly tops such leaderboards and is a massive part of the draw of CS:GO as an esport today. More interesting stats will be published in a detailed article where the popularity of sides will be studied and analyzed in detail.

English was the most preferred language, taking up 58.8% of the overall watch hours. One major European language saw a rise in watch hours, while an Asian one saw a steep fall. Ukrainian also saw an increase, becoming the most-watched language after the big three, while it was also the fifth most popular one after registering 28K PV.

  The most viewed CS:GO competitions this year (Jan - July)   

When comparing the most-watched CS:GO tournaments this year, the BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2023 takes up the fourth spot on a list headed by the highly-successful BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023. After all, this event is the third-most-popular Major and the third-most-popular competition in the discipline while also entering the top five for most watched such competitions ever.

The BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2023 also ended as the fifth most-watched competition in the series, a table topped by BLAST Premier Spring 2022. It has continued CS:GO's strong run in what will be its last-ever season as an esports discipline, with CS2 set to take over the scene in 2024, and fans will hope this momentum is continued till the end of the year.