Beyond the trophies: Which organizations really dominated EWC viewership?

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In the competitive landscape of the Esports World Cup, success is evaluated through two distinct lenses: competitive achievement and audience engagement. The former is quantified by trophies and championship points, the latter by viewership numbers. 

While Team Liquid secured the most individual tournament victories and Team Falcons demonstrated remarkable consistency to claim the Club Championship for a second consecutive year, a separate competition was unfolding concurrently: the race for broadcast dominance. And in this critical metric, the established hierarchies shifted. The organization that attracted the largest live-stream audience throughout the festival was an unexpected contender.

Important: The following audience ranking considers only the live viewership for the festival's core competitive titles, with Battle Royale tournaments excluded from our scope. For a complete picture including BR events, you can purchase access to the full statistical package for each individual tournament. For detailed organizational metrics and broader performance data, access is available in a separate dashboard.

#5 - Aurora Gaming

Kicking off our top-five ranking is one of the most remarkable stories of audience overachievement at the event: Aurora Gaming. The Serbian organization, founded just in 2022, finished outside the top ten in the official Club Championship standings. Yet, they decisively captured the fifth-highest live viewership result of the entire festival. This disconnect between points and popularity wasn't by accident; it was earned through a series of captivating deep runs across every title they contested. 

Aurora's success was a masterclass in strategic diversification and punching above one's weight:

• In Dota 2, they battled through a competitive field to secure a coveted spot in the playoff stage.

• The world-renowned Chess grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi, competing under the Aurora banner, delivered a stellar performance that carried him to the quarterfinals.

• In a stunning upset at the MLBB Mid-Season Cup, Aurora's squad defeated the legendary ONIC Philippines on their way to playoffs.

• The crown jewel of their campaign was a spectacular and unexpected run to the Counter-Strike 2 event final.

#4 - Team Falcons

While their name is etched onto the Club Championship trophy for the second year running, Team Falcons find themselves in an unexpected fourth place here. This may seem counterintuitive, given their broad participation across many more  tournaments than, for instance, our fifth-placed Aurora Gaming. The team demonstrated impressive consistency, reaching the finals in Dota 2 and Chess, advancing to the later stages of both the Counter-Strike 2 and Rocket League events, and having solid showings in several other titles.

However, two critical factors prevented them from climbing higher in this particular ranking. Firstly, a substantial portion of Team Falcons' total viewership was generated by their teams competing in the excluded Battle Royale titles. Secondly, and perhaps more crucially for the metric, the organization's teams did not advance to the final stages of the most crowd-pulling events, specifically the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang tournament. 

#3 - Selangor Red Giants OG Esports

Occupying the third place on our list is an organization with the most elongated name and perhaps the most concentrated success story at the Esports World Cup: Selangor Red Giants OG Esports. This team achieved a remarkable feat, securing its podium position primarily on the viewership of a single, yet massively influential, tournament. 

The organization's impressive viewership numbers were entirely generated by a heroic and unforgettable campaign in the festival's undisputed crown jewel for audience draw: the MLBB competition. In a true Cinderella story, the team first battled its way into the playoffs and then embarked on a legendary run that culminated in a Grand Final appearance. Their fairytale run was cemented by a stunning victory in the semifinals, where they defeated none other than legendary giants of the game ONIC Philippines.

This deep run in the world's most-watched mobile esport provided a colossal and concentrated surge of viewership, demonstrating that in the economy of attention, one spectacular performance on the right stage can outweigh consistent showings across multiple others. 

#2 - Team Liquid

Now, we arrive at the heavyweights. Team Liquid, as one of the largest and most developed organizations in the esports market, entered a vast number of squads and found competitive success across multiple tournaments.

The primary driver behind this achievement was unequivocally their championship-winning run at the MLBB Mid Season Cup 2025. This victorious campaign alone generated over 60% of their total watch time, pulling in massive audiences from the dedicated MLBB community. The next most significant contributions came from deep runs in Dota 2 and Chess, where the organization was represented by two grandmasters, including the event's winner, the superstar Magnus Carlsen.

While Team Liquid claims a strong second place in our ranking that excludes Battle Royale titles, the inclusion of those very BR events would have actually caused them to slide down to third place overall. This highlights a fascinating dynamic: even though Team Liquid's own total viewership would see a significant increase from adding their BR results, the performance of other organizations in that genre was so dominant that it would ultimately reorder the top of the leaderboard.

#1 - ONIC Esports

Claiming the number one spot in our non-Battle Royale viewership ranking is ONIC Esports.

The organization became number one through a masterclass in concentration, not diversification. While other giants spread their efforts across multiple titles, ONIC's strategy revolved around absolute dominance in a single, colossal arena: the MLBB’s Mid Season Cup.

How did they achieve this without even winning the event? The answer is as brilliant as it is simple: they had two rosters competing at event. ONIC fielded separate powerhouse squads from its two most passionate regions: the Philippines and Indonesia. Both teams delivered spectacular performances, making deep runs through the bracket until they eventually collided in the electrifying third-place match, where the Filipino squad narrowly prevailed 3:2 in a series.

This internal "sibling rivalry" was a viewership magnet. It guaranteed that ONIC was involved in some of the most-watched matches of the entire tournament, effectively capturing a massive share of the audience from two of the largest and most engaged MLBB regions simultaneously. The contributions from their other title entries were, by comparison, marginal.

The EWC viewership rankings reveal a fascinating strategic landscape: competitive success does not automatically translate to audience dominance. This year's results underscore that a focused, deep run in a hyper-popular title like MLBB can generate more viewership than a scattered approach across multiple games. Ultimately, capturing the world's attention requires not just winning, but winning on the right stage.

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