December 17, 2018

SportsPro Media has reported that the latest figures from Newzoo, the global provider of games and esports analytics, show that four of the world’s most-watched esports events recorded 190.1 million hours of live streaming in 2018. This equates to 21,700 years.

The figures are based on the League of Legends World Championship Finals 2018, the eLeague Major: Boston, The International 2018 from Dota 2, and the Overwatch League Finals.

Newzoo’s senior marketing analyst, Jurre Pannekeet, said that the League of Legends World Championship Finals was 2018’s biggest tournament by live hours watched across Twitch and YouTube Gaming, boasting 81.1 million hours watched. “Although the event’s viewership decreased slightly from last year, it is worth noting that the event’s quarter-finals took place across two days, compared to four days in 2017”, he said.

Further, Mr Pannekeet said, viewership for the event’s top Twitch channel, Riot Games, increased to an average of 93,000 Twitch viewers, which generated 28.1 million hours of live viewership for the channel. This is up 11.7% from last year’s numbers.

SportsPro Media says that in comparison with traditional sport, streaming analyst Conviva reported record over-the-top (OTT) consumption during the 2018 Fifa World Cup, including 5.5 billion viewing hours during the quarter final between France and Argentina.

In esports, the eLeague Major Boston was the second most-viewed tournament, attracting 54.1 million hours watched across Twitch and YouTube Gaming, which was closely followed by The International 2018 with a total of 49.3 million hours consumed.

Meanwhile, viewers watched 5.6 million hours of the inaugural Overwatch League Finals – the vast majority via Twitch, which reportedly paid US$90 million to stream the Overwatch League in a two-year media rights deal. To read SportsPro Media’s article in full, click here.