ESL Impact League Season 7 is the top female esports event of 2025 amid scrutiny
In a significant upset, reigning champions Imperial Valkyries were eliminated by FURIA Fe in the semifinals. The Imperial roster has previously been dominant in the female scene, claiming ESL Impact title after title. The Imperial Valkyries roster previously appeared at top events earlier in 2025, thanks to the prize pools from their female events ranking them highly in Valve’s rankings, delighting fans and driving massive viewership spikes.
The grand finals of the tournament, between FURIA Fe and home-ground heroes Supernova Comets, went the full three maps, although FURIA Fe appeared to have a leg-up over the competition for the last two maps. The significant peak viewership for this match was largely fuelled by passionate Brazilian fans, especially those following the action through the YouTube and Twitch co-streams of Alexandre “Gaules” Borba.
The outreach of the tournament was also bolstered by online discourse surrounding Supernova Comets and their transgender players. Transgender competitors in female leagues is a controversial topic that generates lots of engagement, and this may have had a positive effect on viewership.
In total, the ESL Impact League Season 7 accumulated 319,000 Hours Watched (HW) and maintained 12,000 Average Viewers (AV). While these metrics may seem initially unimpressive compared to the 100,000 PV, this was the highest watch time and AV collected by the ESL Impact League since its inaugural season.
Crucially, not only was this an impressive result compared to the previous viewership of the ESL Impact League; Season 7 of the female circuit recorded the highest Peak Viewers for any female esports tournament in 2025 so far. The event outperformed other Counter-Strike tournaments, the Stage 1 results for VCT Game Changers this year, and even a new female circuit in mobile gaming phenomenon MLBB.
The year is still long, and there are many female esports events upcoming in this year’s calendar, but as it stands, the ESL Impact League is the reigning tournament of the industry. The circuit has been crucial for developing and supporting female talent in Counter-Strike, and it’s undeniably deserving of its current rank.
The viewership for Season 7 of the circuit was almost able to match its inaugural edition back in 2022. Supporting female viewership in Counter-Strike can be hit or miss; some matches can reach significant viewership through co-caster support and regional fans, but generally, this side of Counter-Strike struggles to generate six-figure peak viewerships.
The new six-figure result for ESL Impact might be the beginning of a turning point for female esports in Counter-Strike. After Imperial Valkyries’ highly followed performances against top teams on the big stage, the ESL Impact circuit has recorded one of its most popular results ever. While this may be a coincidence, coinciding with Gaules’ co-streaming support and a flourishing Brazilian roster, hopes are high for viewership of female esports in Counter-Strike.
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