Worlds 2024 Swiss Stage average viewership increased by 30% compared to last year

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The first half of the Swiss Stage at the 2024 World Championship has wrapped up. So far, this year's event is significantly outpacing last year's in terms of viewership and is on track to become the most popular tournament in League of Legends history and possibly all of esports. With two rounds and several thrilling matches still to come, viewer statistics could climb even higher.

Currently, the first teams to advance to the Knockout Stage are LNG Esports and Gen.G Esports, both of whom secured three straight wins. On the flip side, Mad Lions KOI, and paiN Gaming have been eliminated from the tournament. The second half of the Swiss Stage will run from October 10 to 13, where the remaining six playoff spots will be decided. All matches will now be played as best-of-three series.

In the second half of the Swiss Stage, the gap between this year's tournament and last year's could widen even further. First up, the fourth round will feature an exciting showdown between T1 and G2 Esports, where the reigning world champion faces off against the most popular team in League of Legends and a multiple-time European champion on their home turf.

Additionally, it will be interesting to watch Bilibili Gaming and Weibo Gaming, two Chinese powerhouses. Both teams got off to a rough start in the Swiss Stage, losing two matches each, so they can't afford any more mistakes if they want to reach the playoffs. Their opponents in these crucial matches will be Talon Esports and Fnatic, both tough but beatable teams.

However, some factors could negatively impact overall viewership for the Swiss Stage. For instance, with paiN Gaming out of the tournament, we can expect a significant drop in the audience for Portuguese broadcasts. Recent matches featuring paiN Gaming drew peak viewership of 120,000 to 140,000 on channels of Baiano, while other series only attracted 30,000 to 40,000 viewers. A similar trend is visible on other Portuguese-language channels: Brazilian viewers mainly tune in for their teams, and with none left in the tournament, many may stop following the event altogether.

The elimination of Mad Lions KOI, a highly popular European team, could have a similar effect. When Ibai covered matches featuring Mad Lions KOI, his viewership increased by about 20-30% compared to other series.

That said, the elimination of Mad Lions KOI and paiN Gaming are unlikely to drastically affect the tournament's overall viewership statistics. The main broadcast languages remain English and Korean, and in these segments, matches involving paiN Gaming and Mad Lions KOI weren't particularly popular: the elimination match between Mad Lions KOI and GAM Esports didn't even make the top 20 for peak viewership on English streams.

The second half of the Swiss Stage at the 2024 World Championship will run from October 10 to 13. You can keep up with the results and viewership statistics on the event's reporting page.