Team Liquid vs paiN Gaming was the most popular match at the start of IEM Cologne 2024

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On August 7, IEM Cologne 2024 began in Germany, but the tournament's start was somewhat underwhelming compared to last year, with viewership dropping by 20-40% in some metrics. Nonetheless, as the event progresses and top teams take the stage, audience engagement is expected to increase significantly.

The format for IEM Cologne 2024 is similar to previous years. Teams are divided into two groups based on the ESL World Ranking — more successful teams enter directly into the group stage, while others must first navigate the Play-In stage. This year, a key change is that the first round of Play-In matches is played as best-of-three series instead of best-of-one. As a result, only eight games were held on the first day, down from ten at IEM Cologne 2023.

Notable outcomes from the first day included Eternal Fire's win over Team Falcons and Heroic's surprising loss to MIBR. No team has been eliminated yet, and favorites such as Team Liquid and Complexity Gaming remain well-positioned to advance to the group stage.

Most popular matches of IEM Cologne 2024 Day 1

The most-watched match on the first day of IEM Cologne 2024 was between Team Liquid and paiN Gaming. Despite losing 0-2 in maps, the Brazilian team put up a strong fight, and the match drew over 192,500 viewers simultaneously at its peak.

When comparing IEM Cologne 2024 to last year’s tournament, the viewership statistics for the first day show a significant decline, with average viewership dropping by 42%. Although the new series format extended the total airtime on the first day by 38.5%, total watch time still decreased.

The primary factor behind this decline is the lesser interest from Brazilian audiences that watch Gaules. On the first day of IEM Cologne 2023, Gaules achieved a peak viewership of 222,000 and an average of 84,000 viewers on Twitch. In contrast, this year his viewership on he first day of the event dropped to 49,800 Peak Viewers and 21,000 Average Viewers on Twitch. Gaules also streamed on YouTube, where he garnered 31,300 Peak Viewers and 13,000 Average Viewers on the first day. His YouTube stream peaked during the Brazilian derby between FURIA and Imperial Esports.

The official ESL CS channel also experienced a notable drop, with average viewership falling from 34,800 to 27,200. Additionally, the number of channels broadcasting the first day's matches decreased from 107 to 64.

IEM Cologne tournaments comparison

Another notable difference between this year’s and last year’s tournaments is how viewership is distributed across languages and platforms. For IEM Cologne 2024, there has been a significant increase in YouTube viewership compared to the previous year. Portuguese-language streams have seen a nearly one-third drop in popularity, while Russian-language broadcasts have doubled in share. These trends are likely to change as the tournament continues.

FlyQuest has become the first team to be eliminated from IEM Cologne 2024, having lost to both BIG and The MongolZ. You can track the tournament’s progress on its Esports Charts page.