BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 — new Polish and Ukrainian broadcast records

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Last matches of BLAST.tv Paris Major Legends Stage ended on May 16. Unexpectedly for many people, Natus Vincere did not reach the playoffs, and for the first time in the history of the series, no Russian player will appear in the decisive stage. As for the viewership statistics, new records were set on Romanian, Polish and Ukrainian streams: the first two updated records within CS:GO, and the last one did so within all esports disciplines. 

BLAST.tv Paris Major viewership statistics

The Legends Stage saw a few unexpected results. Firstly, Natus Vincere and G2 Esports were eliminated, the teams that were considered to be one of the favorites of the championship. Ninjas in Pyjamas, ENCE and Fnatic also didn't reach the knockout stage of the tournament. On the other hand, several underdog teams made it to the final round, including Monte, GamerLegion, Apeks and IntoTheBreach.

Interestingly, during the Monte vs. Natus Vincere match and the parallel game between FaZe Clan and Bad News Eagles, a new record was set for Ukrainian-language broadcasts in esports: these games were concurrently watched by more than 60K Peak Viewers. The previous best result for the language was recorded during the final of The International 2022, 46.1K Peak Viewers. 

In addition to Ukrainian, also Polish and Romanian CS:GO broadcasts set new records for Peak Viewers. Over 10K Romanian fans watched the Apeks vs. GamerLegion match concurrently, as they rooted for Romanian e-athlete iM who plays for GL. 

The Polish broadcasts reached 118.2K PV (the best result since Flashpoint 3). Almost all of this audience was attracted by 9INE, which became the first Polish team in the Majors in five years. The last time the Polish team (Virtus.pro) played at FACEIT Major: London 2018.

Legends Stage Viewership Results 

The Legends Stage matches at BLAST.tv's Paris Major 2023 totaled 22.7 million Hours Watched, which is 6.5% fewer compared to the Legends Stage at IEM Rio Major 2022, last year's tournament from Valve.

In terms of viewership at the Legends Stage, the French tournament also lags slightly behind the Brazilian one. For example, the Peak Viewers number on the broadcasts decreased by 11% (to 960K). Moreover, the Average Viewers number of the stage also decreased, but just by 2.5%, amounting to 505K.

The game between Natus Vincere and FaZe Clan, where the teams played for the qualification for the Champions Stage, became the most popular match of the Legends Stage. This series drew 260K more Peak Viewers than the second most popular stage match (when NAVI played against Team Liquid).

The individual teams' results had a direct impact on the Legends Stage audience. For example, Brazil's FURIA Esports was one of the first teams to leave the tournament after three matches. After its exit, the Average Viewers number on the Portuguese-language broadcast decreased by 15-20K viewers. And the Peak Viewers number halved, from 142K to 77K viewers. The early elimination of fan favorites G2 Esports also had a negative effect on viewership.

Natus Vincere, on the other hand, played the maximum number of matches at the Legends Stage and contributed to the tournament's Hours Watched. In addition, NAVI played in all three of the stage's most popular matches (against FaZe Clan, Team Liquid, and Monte). Unfortunately, the Ukrainian team did not manage to pass the Legends Stage and will not play at the Champions Stage. This has high chance of negatively affecting viewership figures of the tournament's final stage.

Champions Stage matches take place from May 18 to 21. All series will be played in a two-win format. The game between Heroic and FaZe Clan will open the playoffs.

• Heroic vs FaZe Clan;

• Into The Breach vs Team Vitality;

• Monte vs GamerLegion;

• Team Liquid vs Apeks. 

BLAST.tv Paris Major is the 19th and last Major in the history of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The next official tournament from Valve will take place in the spring of 2024 in Copenhagen. It will already be a competition using the Counter-Strike 2 version.