EMEA is more socializing, Pacific is buzzing with highlights — VCT 2024 Stage 1 Grand Finals comparison
Pacific League emerged as the most popular among all regions in VCT 2024: Stage 1. Despite this, it fell behind in certain aspects when compared to the Americas and EMEA. Notably, Europe boasted the most engaged fans during the grand finals, while America had the highest percentage of community casting. Esports Charts conducted a comparative analysis of the three pivotal matches across the primary Valorant leagues.
The Pacific finals outperformed the Americas and EMEA in terms of viewership
The championship match held in the Pacific region, featuring Paper Rex and Gen.G, stood out as the clear frontrunner in terms of Hours Watched, average viewership, and peak viewership among all three grand finals. Moreover, the Pacific region uniquely surpassed others by having official broadcasts outweigh community casters. Conversely, in EMEA and the Americas, the scenario was reversed, a trend consistent since the inception of partner leagues.
The finals in the Americas and EMEA regions drew similar viewer numbers. While the Fnatic versus Team Heretics match slightly outperformed in peak online viewership, the series between 100 Thieves and G2 Esports had a higher average audience. The difference in both metrics was marginal, only 5.7% and 7.8% respectively. However, there was a significant gap in hours watched — EMEA outpaced the Americas by almost double, largely due to the series' higher number of maps.
Read more: VCT 2024 Pacific Stage 1 reached new heights as other regions fall behind
The Americas retains its position as the region with the strongest influence from community casting. During the grand final, Tarik amassed more hours of watch time than Valorant Americas' official channels on Twitch and YouTube combined; a similar trend was observed in average and peak online viewership. Interestingly, Tarik also covered some matches in the EMEA region, and he even attracted more viewers at peak times during the European grand finals than during the American finals.
The EMEA finals had the most active fans
While the EMEA league fell short in audience reach compared to other regions, it boasted the most active viewers. During the grand finals, over 62.2K EMEA viewers sent approximately 423K messages in Twitch chats. In contrast, the Americas final had 44.1K chatters and 283K messages. Despite the significant difference in chat participation and message volume, both regions showed relatively similar audience engagement rates: 14.3% and 15.2% respectively.
In the Pacific region, the grand finals garnered coverage from nearly double the number of channels compared to the EMEA and Americas finals. However, chat activity during the Pacific final was noticeably lower than in other leagues, with audience engagement levels hovering around 9%.
Highlights from 100T.bang, TH.benjyfishy, and PRX.Jinggg made it to the top of the most talked-about moments of the final matches
The final round of the series between Paper Rex and Gen.G emerged as the most discussed moment in Twitch chats across all regional finals. When PRX.d4v41 secured a double kill, securing victory for his team, chat activity on Pacific broadcasts peaked at 4.9K messages per minute. Additionally, the ace from PRX.Jinggg — where the Singaporean player single-handedly eliminated all five opponents — spiked chat activity to 2.7K messages per minute.
In the EMEA region, viewer activity peaked during the post-match celebration of Fnatic players immediately after their victory on the final map. Fans sent over 4.8K messages per minute during this moment. TH.benjyfishy was notable in two instances: one where he left his position at an inopportune time, and another where he executed an impressive clutch.
During the Americas grand finals, the highest viewer activity occurred in the last round of the series, with just over 4K messages per minute. Around 2.5K messages were sent during an impressive highlight from 100T.bang, as he eliminated three opponents with three pistol shots.
Most Mentioned Brands during VCT 2024 Stage 1 Finals
The partner leagues of VCT 2024 showcased a diverse range of sponsors, with minimal repetition. The only consistent ones were the global partner Red Bull, featured in every region, and Aim Labs, which advertised during broadcasts in the Americas and EMEA.
EMEA emerged as the clear leader in sponsor mentions in chat during the grand finals broadcasts. This is evident with Red Bull: it was mentioned 167 times in Europe, compared to only 75 and 13 mentions in the chats during the Americas and Pacific finals respectively.
The sponsors of the VCT 2024 Stage 1 leagues predominantly comprised endemic brands like computer manufacturers, gaming chairs, and gaming devices. Among the noteworthy integrations were advertisements for tourism in Andalucia (southern Spain), the clothing brand Ralph Lauren, and the Japanese financial holding company Tachihi Group.
Detailed Esports data at your fingertips.
Subscribe to & start exploring!
