ESL, the world’s largest esports company, today reported significant growth across multiple metrics for major ESL tournaments. Over the course of the first seven months of 2019, average minute audience (+90%), hours watched (+190%) and video views (+55%) have all heavily increased as a result of fans tuning into ESL One, Intel Extreme Masters and ESL Pro League tournaments, shattering the numbers recorded in 2018*.

The top four months across this time period recorded large spikes from major ESL competitions, such as Intel® Extreme Masters Katowice in March, which set the record as the most watched ESL tournament series of all time with more than 174,000 attendees over the course of two weekends. In May, both ESL One Birmingham and Intel Extreme Masters Sydney surpassed the previous viewership figures from last year’s tournaments. ESL Pro League Occitanie in June also broke its all-time viewership records, making this season the most watched in the league’s history. ESL One Cologne in July clocked the most hours watched for a non-major CS:GO tournament, and was sold-out for the fourth consecutive year. Following the brand refresh in January, the viewer experience at all major tournaments has significantly improved, resulting in significant growth across nearly all metrics.

“This growth in viewership and interest is humbling to see,” said Ralf Reichert, CEO at ESL. “ESL’s open ecosystem enables us to work with a variety of games that allows ESL to build standout, innovative properties such as IEM Katowice, ESL One Cologne and Birmingham and see them thrive and grow over the years. We will continue to go that extra mile for a world where everybody can be somebody, creating a path for everybody to participate in these tournaments to build memorable moments for players, fans, partners.“