On December 9th, Red Bull hosted a special show event in Germany called Red Bull League of Its Own 2023. As part of this event, the recent World Championship winners in League of Legends, T1, played several show matches against European teams. The games took place at Velodrom Berlin and attracted almost half a million viewers at their peak — is was Red Bull's most popular esports tournament.
In November, the team T1 secured their fourth World Championship title, achieved at their home tournament in Seoul. Following this victory, Red Bull (T1's sponsor) organized a series of show matches for the champions in Berlin. Karmine Corp, Team Heretics, G2 Esports, BIG, and the NNO Old mix were the opponents facing the Korean team. Additionally, Eintracht Spandau participated in the event, but they played solely in the German derby opening match against BIG.
The criteria for participants in Red Bull League of Its Own 2023 was primarily driven by the fact that most of these teams are also sponsored by Red Bull. Hence, it could be said that this was an internal tournament of the company. Among the participants, the German mix NNO Old stands out, having sensationally qualified for Prime League's top division last year. Teams like BIG and Eintracht Spandau received invitations to the event to delight local German fans. As for Karmine Corp, Team Heretics, and G2 Esports, these teams require no additional introduction; they are among the most popular teams in the European LEC league, with boosted popularity thanks to community casting.
The most popular match of Red Bull League of Its Own 2023 was between T1 and Karmine Corp. It was watched by 494.3K viewers at its peak (new viewership record for Karmine Corp in League of Legends!). The match was intriguing, but France's most media-friendly team couldn't overcome the reigning world champions. Karmine Corp fans fervently supported their home club, but T1 was too strong.
At Red Bull League of Its Own 2023, Team T1 also defeated BIG, NNO Old, and Team Heretics, but surprisingly lost to G2 Esports at the very end of the event. Interestingly, the defeat of the world champions (even though it was a best-of-1 show match) drew fewer viewers than other matches involving the Korean team.
Karmine Corp and BIG also set their new viewership records in League of Legends (both in matches versus T1). Red Bull League of Its Own 2023 emerged as Red Bull's most popular esports tournament. Only musical events from the Red Bull Batalla series drew larger audiences.
