FC Pro 24 Open drew over 300K Peak Viewers at the very start of event

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EA Sports FC release has significantly boosted the game's esports scene. Just recently we noted that the FC Pro 24 Open - Global Qualifier set a viewership record for virtual football, and now the FC Pro 24 Open tournament itself shows impressive viewership activity on Twitch, which is largely thanks to the system of in-game rewards for watching the event.

The first day of the FC Pro 24 Open gathered almost 320K Peak Viewers, this is the third-highest result in the history of the discipline and the second-highest in 2023. Most fans came to watch the match between Emre Yilmaz and Umut, the leaders of Group A: their game ended in a 4:4 draw. 

Most popular virtual football events

Before the release of EA Sports FC 24, only one event in the history of virtual football was able to gather more than 300K PV, the FIFA 21 Challenge with 328K concurrent viewers at peak. After the release of the new game in November, two more tournaments were added to the list.

Electronic Arts is working hard to ensure that EA Sports FC gathers the largest possible audience and soon establishes itself as a proper replacement brand for the FIFA series. One of the tools for this is handing out viewership rewards. Any EA Sports FC 24 fan can earn bonuses to their account if he or she follows the FC Pro 24 Open on the official broadcasts. For example, one can earn experience points, the Jumbo Premium Gold Pack or the Rare Gold Players Pack. Moreover, awards are given not one-time, but for each new game day separately, i.e. the number of viewers at the tournament will most likely remain at a high level until the Grand Final.

Viewership awards

The start of the FC Pro 24 Open was also reflected in the statistics of the game on Twitch. On November 26, the Peak Viewers number in the EA Sports FC 24 category was 135.8K, but on November 27, the tournament day, this figure increased to 382.1K people. The Average Viewers number increased from 61.3K to 79.7K. In November, EA Sports FC 24 ranked 12th in the top most watched categories on Twitch. A month earlier it had the 7th position: October was the first complete month for the game after its release.

The second game day of the FC Pro 24 Open will be held on December 4: this day will see the first round of matches in Group B. The event takes place from November 27 to February 3 in London, and the total prize pool of the tournament is $500K. The three strongest players at the end of the tournament will get quotas for the World Championship and invites to the FC Pro 25 Open.