ALGS 2024 Split 2 Playoffs recorded the lowest viewership in series history for international playoffs event
The ALGS: 2024 Split 2 Playoffs is the second major event in the Apex Legends 23-24 esports calendar, and the precursor to the ultimate Champions event later this year. Despite the hype building around Team Falcon’s new superteam and a mid-season shake-up of top players and teams, the event was the least-watched Playoffs event in ALGS history, since the circuit began hosting LAN events featuring teams from all around the world.
The Split 2 Playoffs had potential to be highly watched. After the Split 1 Playoffs, Team Falcons entered the esports title by signing legendary player ImperialHAL and acquiring Zer0 and Genburten from DarkZero Esports, who had previously emerged victorious at the 2022 Championship, 2023 Split 2 Playoffs, and taken 2nd place at the recent 2024 Split 1 Playoffs. Despite the big names joining the organization, the team bombed out of the Finals at the recent Split 2 Playoffs, finishing in 20th and last place.
Legends Unite! ?
— Falcons Esports (@FalconsEsport) May 28, 2024
Introducing the ULTIMATE trio, our unstoppable Apex Legends SUPERTEAM! ?⚡️@ImperialHal • @Genburten • @Zer0OCE#FalconsAreHere | #شجع_الأخضر pic.twitter.com/GvS5DZJvQd
Team Falcons announcement of their new Apex Legends roster
Despite the excitement about Team Falcon’s new team, and the vast community engagement generated by their poor finish, the event was the least-watched ALGS Playoffs event across the board. At each stage of the event, Group Stage, Bracket, and Finals, viewership was significantly down compared to this year’s Split 1 Playoff; the 2024 Split 2 Playoffs has become the only ALGS Playoffs event to receive less than 500K concurrent viewers at peak.
With Team Falcons out of the way, North American organization Spacestation Gaming secured their first-ever ALGS victory. The team was put together at the beginning of the year, and after switching around the roster and bringing in a new coach for the Split 2 event, the team earned first place and $300,000 in prize money.
In total, the ALGS: 2024 Split 2 Playoffs generated 7.34M Hours Watched and maintained an average viewership of 151.5K concurrent viewers. Not only did the event struggle to generate high viewership peaks, but this was the lowest average viewership an ALGS Playoffs event has ever recorded, excluding the regional Playoffs events from 2022 Split 1 and before.
Viewership for the Finals stage of the event was also quite flat. Whereas we would usually see a distinct increase in viewership towards the final Rounds of the event, viewership increased by just over 60K concurrent viewers from Round 5 to Round 10, whereas it increased by about 100,000 concurrent viewers at this year’s Split 1 Playoffs.
Unfortunately for the ALGS, there is no clear reason as to why this low viewership has occurred. The event was held in Europe, where the ALGS has held successful Playoffs events in the past, and there was even an increase in channels covering the event compared to this year’s Split 1 Playoffs. Across the board, the most popular community casters and official broadcasts recorded less viewership than at this year’s Split 1 Playoffs, and by a significant margin.
The official English-language playapex Twitch channel recorded fewer peak viewers than they managed at Split 1 Playoffs this year, as did the leading Japanese broadcaster esports_RAGE. Critically, the event did miss coverage from some sizeable content creators who have supported previous events, such as DisguisedToast, vodkavdk, and others. Averaging the viewership for all community casters to broadcast the event, the Split 2 Playoffs saw community casters receive half of the average viewership they enjoyed at the Split 1 Playoffs earlier this year.
The sudden drop in viewership is surprising for the ALGS, which previously had been able to maintain at least 500,000 concurrent viewers at peak. While the event did suffer from a lack of coverage from famous content creators, viewership fell for both official broadcast channels and the community casters who remained for this event.
The 2023 Championship recorded a drop in viewership compared to the previous year’s ultimate event, and it appears the 2024 Championship might once again record a downward trend for viewership. The ALGS has struggled to match the viewership it achieved during 2022, but the drop in viewership for the 2024 Split 2 Playoffs was unprecedented in its tempo.
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