Dota 2 o'clock: how to choose the most optimal time for matches and gather the maximum audience?
Dota 2 esports scene has very wide geography, with competitions being held all over the world, from North America to Southeast Asia. The teams spend most of the season playing within their regions, but several times a year they meet at international tournaments: DPC Majors and The International, world championship of the discipline. It is cross-regional events that are key for the scene, since they attract the most viewers.
Esports Charts collected the stats of 26 largest tournaments and determined the hourly intervals at which the Dota 2 fans from different regions watch tournament matches the most actively. We considered only official majors from Valve and tournaments of The International series, since these are the most significant championships that unite the audience of competitive Dota 2 from all over the world. These events are attended by top teams from all six regions, and their coverage is held in all key languages for the Dota 2 esports scene. We specifically did not take into account local tournaments, where teams from only one or two regions participated, as this could distort the objectivity of data. For example, the audience of the tournament for Southeast Asia will overwhelmingly consist of spectators from the countries of this region, while spectators from all over the world follow international tournaments.
This information will help organizers and esports studios better schedule championships and distribute matches across the broadcast grid so that they reach the largest possible audience.
1. Since the selected tournaments were held in different regions, many of them had different time zones. To make our data more uniform, we moved the hourly limits of viewers activity during tournaments to the single time zone — GMT +0.
2. When analyzing viewership, we took into account data from all channels where the tournament was broadcast, not just from the official ones.
3. Statistics from Chinese streaming services are not included in calculations, as we have doubts about the objectivity of the data provided by them.
Statistics by region
The timeframe when the viewership activity peaks at the European tournaments would be from 1 PM to 5 PM GMT, after which the audience starts gradually decreasing. This may be because the number of viewers from Asia is decreasing due to the timezones, while fans from North America do not watch matches in the morning as often, as well as tend to come late in the evening. At the same time, the absolutely “dead” period would be the one from 1 AM to 4 AM GMT, as it features no broadcasts at all.
If we talk about Asian tournaments, then game day there can last from 1 AM to 4 PM GMT, and they collect the largest audience between 9 AM and 12 PM GMT. Due to timezone differences, matches in Asian tournaments usually start very early from the perspective of European viewers. Europeans actively start connecting to broadcasts only closer to dinnertime when the game day is either in full swing or is gradually coming to an end. Such time zones are much more convenient for viewers from North America. From their perspective, Asian tournaments start in the afternoon, late in the evening local time — which makes this period a prime time, when neither work nor study distracts from viewing.
For American tournaments, game days usually take place between 3 PM and 6 AM GMT. At the same time, the peak activity of viewers falls on the 6 PM - 8 APM GMT segment. From 7 AM to 1 PM GMT there are practically no broadcasts. What does this distribution mean? The greatest activity of the audience falls on the first rounds of the game day when the Americans have already begun to watch the matches, and the Europeans have not yet gone to sleep. In this regard, everything is much more complicated for viewers from Asia. Due to time zones, they, at best, only have time for spectating the final matches of the game day.
How to create a convenient match schedule
Knowledge of peak viewer activity in different regions can be very useful for tournament operators. Using this data, one can schedule matches in such a way that they attract as many viewers as possible. In this regard, let’s take a look at the best timeframes for holding matches between teams from different regions.
For example, a match between a European team and an Asian team is best played between 9 AM and 12 PM GMT. Setting it to an earlier time will cause fewer viewers from Europe to come to the broadcast, as many will not yet wake up by that time. Postponing the match to the afternoon or evening is risky because Asian viewers may go to sleep instead of waiting for the match.
In the case of a match between a European team and an American team, the best option would be to play it in the evening between 5 PM and 7 PM GMT. As in the previous case, American viewers will not wake up at an earlier time, and Europeans might already go to sleep should the match start later.
The peak of viewer activity at a match between the American and Asian teams will occur from 2 AM to 3 AM GMT. These regions have only a few convenient time crossings, so it is better for the organizers to make a choice in favor of only one of these regions while getting an extra audience thanks to the viewers from Europe. For example, if during a match between an Asian and an American team, the former is likely to attract more viewers, then it is better to play the match between 9 AM and 12 PM GMT. This time is completely inconvenient for American fans, but their absence can be compensated by the activity of European viewers.
A similar situation occurs when the American team is given preference over the Asian one. In this case, the match is best played in the evening, from 5 PM to 7 PM GMT. In this case, the loss of the Asian audience is compensated by the audience from Europe.
How to compensate for the loss of the audience
Correctly scheduling matches to maximize their convenience and efficiency in terms of audience coverage is not an easy task. Almost always, the organizers try to please the audience of the region where the tournament takes place geographically. This is logical and justified, at least based on logistics and schedule. No one will wake up the players at three in the morning so that it would be more convenient for Europeans on the other side of the Earth to watch the match.
Each tournament will have games with an inconvenient schedule for fans, but the organizers can compensate for these moments with additional incentives. For example, such matches may feature more media commentators who can keep viewers glued to the screens even at times that are inconvenient for them. Additional incentives might also include pre-announced interviews with guest stars, various competitions, presentations, live team draws, and other similar activities.
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