ESL Pro League Season 20: Record Viewership and NAVI Triumph

The 20th season of the ESL Pro League not only awarded Natus Vincere another championship title in Counter-Strike 2 but also set a new audience reach record for the series. Compared to the previous season, YouTube saw a significant increase in viewers, with its audience growth rate doubling that of Twitch.

The group stage of ESL Pro League Season 20 was particularly notable for the surprising early exit of MOUZ, last season's champions, and a top-five team according to HLTV.org. This time, they were unable to advance past the group stage. In contrast, fans were delighted by the performances of MIBR and EternalFire. The Brazilian team had not reached the top four in major international tournaments for quite some time, so making it to the semifinals of ESL Pro League Season 20 was a major accomplishment. Although MIBR had a favorable bracket and appeared poised for a potential grand finals appearance, they ultimately fell short against EternalFire.

The Turkish team made a strong impression in the playoffs, particularly with their remarkable match against Team Vitality, where they secured a hard-fought victory in a series of overtime rounds on the final map.

Natus Vincere with trophy

Natus Vincere with trophy / Photo: x.com/ESLCS

In the grand final between Natus Vincere and EternalFire, an exhilarating battle unfolded, spanning all five maps and culminating in a 3:2 victory for the Ukrainian team. This win marks NAVI's third ESL Pro League championship title in its history. The tournament's Most Valuable Player (MVP) award went to jL, making it the second time he has received the HLTV MVP title in his career.

Viewership statistics ESL Pro League Season 20

The broadcasts of ESL Pro League Season 20 attracted over 808,300 Peak Viewers, doubling the viewership from the previous season and setting a new record for the series. The former record of 758,500 PV had stood for three years, established during the final of ESL Pro League Season 14, which NAVI also won.

Furthermore, Season 20 achieved the highest average viewership per match in the series, with 173,800 viewers, an increase of 12% compared to the previous season. Such high numbers had only been reached in Season 10 and Season 16 in the past.

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Most popular teams of ESL Pro League Season 20 by Average Viewers

Natus Vincere emerged as the most popular team in the tournament, achieving an impressive average viewership of over 300,000 concurrent viewers per match. In contrast, other teams posted significantly lower numbers; for example, the team in fifth place had an average viewership that was only half that of NAVI.

In terms of viewership trends for ESL Pro League Season 20, there was notable growth in average viewership for broadcasts in Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, and Ukrainian. This increase was largely driven by the successes of MIBR, EternalFire, and NAVI, as well as strong community casting efforts. Channels like Gaules, buster, and bySL4M helped attract a substantial audience. Notably, bySL4M achieved his most popular broadcast in the past two years, with over 53,600 PV during the grand final.

Turkish language broadcasts reached the second-highest peak viewership in Counter-Strike history, surpassed only by PGL Major Copenhagen 2024. Mongolian broadcasts closely followed, nearly matching the viewership numbers from the Danish major. Meanwhile, Ukrainian broadcasts recorded the fourth-highest peak viewership in their history.

YouTube is playing an increasingly vital role in ESL's Counter-Strike tournaments. During ESL Pro League Season 20, the platform accounted for nearly a third of the total watch time, increasing by 23% compared to the previous season. The average viewership also rose by 20%, with YouTube outpacing Twitch in growth rate, doubling its increase from the previous season.