StarLadder Budapest Major 2025: The grand final matchup that maximizes viewership

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The StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 playoffs are underway, making it the perfect moment to discuss how many viewers the Counter-Strike Major’s grand final could attract. Esports Charts breaks down which matchup would, on paper, be the strongest draw for online audiences and how high the event’s peak viewership could climb.

For this forecast, we used a traditional methodology, assessing the teams’ audiences and factoring in historical viewership patterns from previous Majors. As a result, one clear best-case scenario stands out, which we expect to draw a larger audience than the Austin Major final.

Based on our estimates, the most favorable outcome for maximizing viewership would be a Team Spirit vs FURIA grand final. This matchup would activate three key audience segments: English-speaking and Russian-speaking viewers, as well as Brazilian fans, who traditionally show strong interest when local teams are involved.

Under our mid-range projections, this scenario should surpass 2 million live viewers, and while a new all-time Counter-Strike record is unlikely, we do not rule out a small chance of it happening.

With Team Falcons eliminated, an average viewership scenario for the grand final would require FURIA’s presence at a minimum. The logic remains the same: to maximize audience reach, Brazil needs some level of representation in the final, and FURIA is the region’s last remaining hope. In this scenario, Team Vitality stands out as the most compelling opponent, having been the most successful team of the first half of the season.

Any grand final matchup that does not include Team Spirit or FURIA automatically falls into the lowest scenario category. In this case, we estimate a peak audience in the range of 1.3 to 1.5 million live viewers, with a small but non-zero chance that the final could even draw fewer viewers than yesterday’s Team Spirit vs Team Falcons quarterfinal.

Today, December 12, the second set of Major semifinalists will be decided. MOUZ will face FaZe Clan first, followed by a highly anticipated showdown between FURIA and Natus Vincere. Follow the tournament and its viewership statistics on Esports Charts.