Worlds 2021: Group Stage Day 1 Results

League of Legends fans had been waiting for this for almost two years: T1 and Faker finally returned to Worlds 2021. Probably, the main evidence for this is the viewership numbers of T1’s debut game in the group stage, which was watched by over 2.2M concurrent viewers! Esports Charts sums up the results of the first day of 2021 World Championship group stage.

Some people claim that Worlds only begins starting from the group stage with the top teams from Korea, China, Europe and North America joining the fight. And the viewership statistics of the first day of the group stage of the 2021 World Championship confirms this. Compared to the Play-In stage, the average audience has grown from 877.6K to 1.47M people (+68%). It came as no surprise, as such popular teams as Fnatic, Team Liquid and Royal Never Give Up played their first matches.

Disclaimer: Data doesn't include statistics from Chinese streaming platforms!

In the first match of the Worlds group stage, the reigning world champion DWG KIA played against FPX, the winners of the Worlds 2019. The debut game of the main stage attracted 1.6 million viewers at peak. This is 400 thousand more than in the opening match of the group stage at the last Worlds, when FlyQuest met with Top Esports.

On average, Worlds group stage matches are gaining 300-400 thousand more spectators compared to Play-In, and the most popular matches are the ones with teams from South Korea. The first place is currently held by T1's game with the Japanese team DetonatioN FocusMe: T1's debut at Worlds 2021 was simultaneously watched by 2,232,997 people. This is 22% more than the peak audience of the second most popular match of the day (LGD vs Gen.G), which was watched by up to 1.84M concurrent viewers.

Worlds has been consistently improving its viewership throughout the competition. It should be noted that the debut of T1 at Worlds 2021 did not come at the most convenient time for Korean viewers. Tomorrow the tournament is likely to improve its peak viewers number, as the spectators are waiting for the Korea vs China rivalry between T1 and EDward Gaming, which will be held in prime time (1PM CET).