Arena of Glory Spring Split 2026 sees 13% dip in live viewership from previous split

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The Arena of Glory Spring 2026 concluded on May 10, reaching almost 700K Peak Viewer (PV) according to the Esports Charts, but falling short of the milestone numbers put up over the past two editions.

The two 2025 Arena of Glory splits ended as the only ones to cross 800K PV in the series. This signaled the gradual global rise of yet another mobile esports title that had enjoyed massive popularity in the Southeast Asian region for years.

While the latest entry in the top-tier Vietnamese professional league for Arena of Valor could not maintain that momentum, it still finished as the series' third-most popular event.

Why did the Arena of Glory Spring 2026 viewership fall?

  Basic viewership stats and most popular matches from the Arena of Glory Spring 2026   

The latest iteration in the AoG series peaked at 693,130 viewers, according to Esports Charts, during the Grand Final between regional heavyweights Team Flash and Saigon Phantom. It was the third straight finals clash between the two most popular AoV sides in Vietnam, with Team Flash emerging as the victor.

This PV figure was lower than the last two splits, and was 13% lesser than the live viewership seen at the Arena of Glory Winter 2025. One reason for lower stats was that the official Saigon Phantom AOV YouTube channel, which attracted a lot of viewers when broadcasting the two record-setting splits last year, failed to act as an audience driver this year.

Most popular and watched Arena of Glory events

The event also had to contend with other esports competitions running at the same time. This included other tournaments popular in Vietnam, like the LCP 2026 Split 2, Free Fire World Series - Southeast Asia 2026 Spring and VCT 2026: Pacific Stage 1.

A few more close matches also meant that the Arena of Glory Spring 2026 became just the third tournament in the series to accrue over 26 million Hours Watched (HW). Only the Spring 2025 and Winter 2022 have done better, with the former holding the series record for watch time and concurrent viewers.

What happened at the Arena of Glory Spring 2026?

Team Flash, the circuit's most legendary name, made the Grand Final for the third straight split, having missed this stage for four years until 2025. It emerged triumphant once again, beating Saigon Phantom, the series's most dominant recent team (this was the side's 13th straight finals appearance), with a 4:2 score.

  Team Flash has won the last two AoG splits (Image via Team Flash Liên Quân Mobile on Facebook)   

The Arena of Glory Spring 2026 acted as a qualifier for multiple upcoming global events. As the winner, Team Flash booked its ticket to the Honor of Kings World Cup 2026 and the Arena of Valor Premier League 2026, where it will be joined by the other top-four finishers. The fifth and sixth-placed sides also advanced to the APL 2026 - Wildcard.

Were there changes to the Arena of Glory Spring 2026?

To celebrate its 20th season, the Arena of Glory switched to a partnership model and removed the promotion and relegation system. Moreover, organizer Garena Vietnam handpicked all the teams that participated in the league based on various criteria.

This development did not affect the existing lineup of sides, also facilitating the entry of the legendary Vietnamese side GAM Esports into the league. Additionally, it attracted global investment in the form of Team Secret, one of the most well-recognized Russian esports organizations globally.

The Arena of Glory Spring 2026 was the first of the three AoV Pro Leagues, the others being Thailand's RoV Pro League (RPL) and Taiwan's Garena Challenger Series (GCS), to adopt this new partnership model. It also became the first region to implement the new bounty prize pool system, with sides awarded a specific share of the overall prize pool of $234,210 based on their ranking after the end of the season.

The MVP of the Grand Final received almost $2,000, while the best lane players took home around $400.

Overall, it was another solid edition of the Arena of Glory. Even though the viewership could not sustain record numbers, it was another reminder of the growing popularity of Arena of Valor on the global stage and the effect that Vietnamese audiences can have on events in games that are highly popular in the SEA region.

Header image via Nintendo