Most watched esports teams in 2021

Loading

Esports Charts continues to sum up the year 2021. We recently published a ranking of the most watched esports organizations, and today we will name the top 10 rosters and highlight their most successful performances.

Disclaimer: The ranking is based on the total Hours Watched of esports matches. We didn't take into account the statistics of Chinese streaming services and the Battle Royale genre disciplines.

Top esports teams in 2021

#10 Gen.G Esports (LoL)

Gen.G Esports' League of Legends team ranked tenth with 51.6 million Hours Watched. The team expectedly attracted the most viewers’ attention during Worlds 2021: the team made it to the semifinals, amassing 24.2 million Hours Watched (46% of the year' total). Other achievements of the Gen.G squad include second place in the LCK Spring 2021 and third place in the LCK Summer 2021.

#9 Cloud9 (LoL)FF

Cloud9's LoL squad is in ninth place. The team was the LCS Spring 2021 champion and was third in the LCS Summer 2021. The team also participated in the international tournaments: it was fifth in the Mid-Season Invitational 2021 and 5th-8th in the Worlds 2021. In total, Cloud9 accumulated 52.4 million Hours Watched in a year. It should be noted that Gen.G and Cloud9 clashed in the quarterfinals of the Worlds 2021, which was watched by up to 1.96 million Peak Viewers.

#8 Team Spirit (Dota 2)

Eighth place went to Team Spirit's Dota 2 squad. In 2021, the team made a historic breakthrough by becoming the first Russian team to win The International (and the second CIS team after NAVI). The TI10 Grand Final against PSG.LGD was watched by 2.74 million Peak Viewers, which became a new discipline record. Over the year, Team Spirit amassed 52.85 million Hours Watched, and The International accounted for 66% of that number.

#7 Blacklist International (ML:BB)

Seventh place in the ranking of the most watched esports teams is taken by Blacklist International's Mobile Legends: Bang Bang team. ML:BB was the top 1 mobile discipline of the previous year. In 2021, the team won two seasons of the MPL Philippines, but most importantly it was crowned M3 World Championship winner. The team accumulated 53.3 million Hours Watched in a year, 41% of which were from the M3 World Championship. The team's match in the quarterfinals of the tournament against Rex Regum Qeon Hoshi amassed 3.107 million Peak Viewers. 

#6 MAD Lions (LoL)

In sixth place is the MAD Lions‘ LoL squad. In 2021, the team amassed 55.1 million Hours Watched thanks to several successful performances. The team won the European League Spring and the Summer Splits, placed 3th-4th in the Mid-Season Invitational 2021 and 5th-8th in the Worlds 2021. Worlds 2021’s quarterfinals against DWG KIA was watched by 2.29 Peak Viewers.

#5 EVOS Legends (ML:BB)

EVOS Legends' ML:BB squad is at the top 5 spot. The team could not make it to the international M3 World Championship, but became the champion of the MPL Indonesia Season 7, as well as it took third places in the MPL Indonesia Season 8 and the MLBB Southeast Asia Cup 2021. These results helped to amass 57.2 million Hours Watched, and the reason for that is that ML:BB is extremely popular in Indonesia, the home of the EVOS team.

#4 RRQ Hoshi (ML:BB)

Rex Regum Qeon Hoshi turned out to be the most watched team in the ML:BB discipline. As previously mentioned, the team drew 3.107 million Peak Viewers in the M3 World Championship quarterfinal match against Blacklist International. RRQ Hoshi was defeated in that match and placed 5th-8th in the tournament. Combined with the other results over the year, the squad managed to accumulate 67.7 million Hours Watched. This result was also boosted by the fact that RRQ Hoshi is the most popular Mobile Legends: Bang Bang team in Indonesia.

#3 T1 (LoL)

The top 3 spot in terms of Hours Watched is taken by the Korean T1’s LoL team. The team ranked second in the LCK Summer 2021 and won the LCK Regional Finals 2021. At the Worlds 2021, the team took 3rd-4th place, losing to DAMWON Gaming KIA. The teams draw 3.54 million Peak Viewers at this semifinal match. In total, the T1 team amassed 74.1 million Hours Watched in a year.

#2 NaVi (CS:GO)

Second place in the ranking is taken by Natus Vincere's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive squad. The team dominated the discipline throughout the second half of 2021 and won six major tournaments, including the PGL Major Stockholm 2021. The squad accumulated 87.45 million Hours Watched in a year thanks to its numerous participation in the finals. It should be noted that the victory in the major was the first in the history of the organization, and the grand final against G2 Esports attracted a record 2.75 million Peak Viewers for the CS:GO discipline.

#1 DWG Kia (LoL)

The most watched esports team in 2021 is DAMWON Gaming KIA, the League of Legends team. It won the Korean league's spring and summer splits, and placed second in both the Mid-Season Invitational 2021 and the Worlds 2021. The grand finals of the latter event was watched by over 4 million Peak Viewers, which is an absolute record for the discipline and the second-highest result in the history of esports. The massive number of finals and the enormous popularity of LoL (top 1 discipline in 2020) helped DWG KIA to accumulate 96.3 million Hours Watched in 2021.

***

Based on the 2021's results, half of the most watched esports teams are from the League of Legends discipline. NAVI is the only representative of CS:GO and shooters in general, and Team Spirit is the only team from the Dota 2 discipline. Also, there are three representatives of mobile ML:BB in the top. We can say that the popularity of the disciplines influences the team's own popularity. Soon Esports Charts will release an article dedicated to the disciplines.