Riyadh Masters 2024 viewership results: tournament successes and missed opportunities

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Riyadh Masters 2024, a Dota 2 tournament and part of the Esports World Cup series, concluded in Saudi Arabia. According to Esports Charts, the event has become the most-watched Dota 2 tournament of 2024 so far, although it did not achieve the highest peak concurrent viewership.

The tournament progressed through multiple stages, gradually eliminating weaker participants. By the time the playoffs began, no teams from North or South America remained. Half of the teams from China and Southeast Asia were also eliminated. Despite some losses, all top European teams advanced to the final stage.

A major highlight of the playoffs was the early elimination of Team Spirit, the previous year's champions. They lost to Team Liquid in the upper bracket and then to PSG Quest in the lower bracket. WBG.XG, the strongest team from China, also had an unfortunate run. They lost to Team Falcons in the first round and then faced BetBoom Team, one of their toughest opponents, in the elimination match. As a result, both Team Spirit and WBG.XG finished in 7th-8th place, despite being strong contenders for the podium.

The grand final featured Gaimin Gladiators against Team Liquid. These teams had competed in the finals of all the major tournaments the previous year, with Gaimin Gladiators emerging victorious each time. This trend continued in 2024, with Gladiators securing another victory. The team earned $1.5 million and 1000 ranking points for the EWC Club Championship.

Read also: Esports World Cup 2024: Who's the favorite in the $20 million Club Championship race?

Riyadh Masters 2024 Viewership Statistics

Riyadh Masters 2024 matches generated over 26.3 million Hours Watched, making it the most-watched Dota tournament of the year (at least until TI). The average number of viewers per broadcast stabilized at 178,400, also the highest in Dota 2 esports this year.

Regarding peak viewership, the grand final between Team Liquid and Gaimin Gladiators attracted 417,200 PV: this was slightly lower than the PGL Wallachia Season 1, which peaked at 487,400 PV. The Riyadh Masters 2024 might have achieved higher numbers if Eastern European teams had performed better. For instance, Team Spirit and BetBoom Team, favorites among Russian-speaking viewers, finished 5th and 7th place. Notably, Team Spirit had the highest average viewership among all participants in the tournament.

The Riyadh Masters 2024 fell slightly short of last year's tournament in terms of audience reach. The average number of viewers decreased by 11%, and peak viewership dropped by 29%. The main reason for this decline was a drop in viewership on English-language broadcasts. The share of English-language viewers decreased from 37.8% to 31.7%, with average and peak viewership on English streams falling by 26% and 40.5%, respectively. Interestingly, the main decline was observed on official channels, while community casters maintained their previous year's performance levels.

Riyadh Masters Dota 2 tournaments comparison

In addition to a decline in English viewership, Spanish-language broadcasts also saw a significant drop, primarily due to the early exit of all South American teams. On the other hand, Russian-language broadcasts experienced a slight increase, with the share of Russian viewers rising from 42.8% to 51.5%. Community casters like Nix, just_ns, and others performed particularly well. As noted earlier, Russian-language viewership might have been even higher if Eastern European teams had advanced further in the tournament.

Another key factor was the overlap with other tournaments. The final of the Riyadh Masters 2024 coincided with the Esports World Cup 2024 for Counter-Strike, causing both events to share viewers. This was particularly noticeable during the decisive map of the Riyadh Masters final, which peaked at lower numbers than the second map due to the Counter-Strike final starting.

The Riyadh Masters 2024 ranked as the fifth most popular tournament in the Esports World Cup 2024 series. It fell behind the championships for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Counter-Strike, League of Legends, and Free Fire in terms of peak viewership.

Most popular tournaments of Esports World Cup 2024

The Riyadh Masters 2024 featured the largest prize pool of any tournament in the Esports World Cup series, totaling $5 million. The esports festival is still ongoing, with the champions of the remaining tournaments set to be announced on August 25. You can track the progress of all tournaments on Esports Charts.