Austin Major 2025: Stage 2 Recap & Viewership Surge

The BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 is rapidly cementing its status as the month’s premier esports spectacle. With Stage 2 now complete, the competition has sharpened, leaving just 16 of the world’s best Counter-Strike teams battling for the championship. Not only has the tournament’s intensity increased, but viewership numbers have also surged, outpacing last year’s Perfect World Shanghai Major by a significant margin. From shocking upsets to record-breaking audiences, Stage 2 delivered unforgettable moments and set the stage for an electrifying second half of the event.

The biggest storyline of Stage 2 was the surprising elimination of Team Falcons, one of the tournament premier squads. Despite high expectations, Nikola ‘’NiKo’’ Kovač’s squad managed just one win against OG, falling against B8 Esports, Lynn Vision Gaming, and MIBR in a string of upsets. Their final match against the Brazilian team drew over 1 million concurrent viewers, making it the most popular game of the stage. It was the first time in three years that a non-playoff match attracted such a massive audience. The last time we saw viewership numbers this high was during the Legends Stage at PGL Major Antwerp 2022, where only three matches surpassed 1 million peak viewers.

B8 Esports and HEROIC, both of whom had standout performances in Stage 1, have also been knocked out of the tournament. Meanwhile, Legacy delivered a pleasant surprise to their fans, securing three confident wins and a smooth path to Stage 3.

FaZe Clan deserves a special mention, as they only advanced to Stage 3 after five grueling rounds, finally clinching their spot with a win over MIBR. While FaZe’s play has been anything but consistent, fans remain highly engaged, especially with Oleksandr ‘’s1mple’’ Kostyljev stepping in as the team’s star stand-in.

Austin Major 2025: Stage 2 and Stage 1 viewership comparison

Stage 2 saw a significant boost in viewership compared to Stage 1, which comes as no surprise. As the competition intensifies with each stage, the matches naturally draw more attention from fans. Core metrics like total watch hours, average viewership, and peak concurrent viewers nearly doubled, highlighting the growing excitement surrounding the tournament.

One thing that hasn’t changed is the presence of a Brazilian team in the most popular match of every stage. Once again, much of the credit goes to Alexandre ‘’Gaules’’ Chiqueta, the hugely popular community caster from Brazil. During Stage 2, his YouTube and Twitch channels ranked among the top five most-watched streams of the tournament. What’s especially noteworthy is that Gaules now draws a larger audience on YouTube than on Twitch, even though the latter was his original livestreaming platform.

Each of the three most-popular matches in Stage 2 featured a different Brazilian team, underscoring both the passion of Brazilian fans and the strong influence of Gaules. After two stages, MIBR topped the tournament in total watch hours, but following their elimination, a new team will step up to take their rank. Meanwhile, FaZe is comfortably ahead of all other teams in terms of average viewership per match.

For more insights and detailed viewership stats from the tournament, check out the Event Dashboard by Esports Charts. It offers easy-to-use filters to help you analyze the tournament at any stage.

Austin Major vs Shanghai Major viewership comparison

So far, the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 is outperforming the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 across all key viewership metrics. Compared to the Elimination Stage of last year’s event in China, average viewership is up by 65%, with peak concurrent viewership showing a similar increase. The most notable growth has come from the English and Polish broadcasts, while Mongolian viewership is lower than that of the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024, The MongolZ are yet to play in Austin.

BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 features more participating teams than the Shanghai Major and includes an additional Swiss stage. Even though the tournament’s biggest names haven’t even hit the server yet, Austin’s viewership numbers have already pulled well ahead of last year’s event.

Stage 3 will mark the debut of heavyweights such as Team Vitality, Natus Vincere, Team Spirit, and others, setting the stage for even greater viewership growth. It’s likely that the Austin Major 2025 will not only continue to break its records in Stage 3, but could also set new all-time viewership records for the entire Valve Major series once the playoffs roll around.

Just a reminder — Stage 3 of the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 runs from June 12 to 15. By the end of this stage, we’ll know which eight teams will advance to the playoff bracket and continue their run for the championship title. For live updates on match results and viewership stats, be sure to check out the Esports Charts coverage page.