The top 10 most-watched esports events of 2025

The 2025 esports season was filled with high-class occasions, record-breaking performances and unforgettable moments throughout dozens of titles and genres.

With the calendar concluding, Esports Insider takes a take a look at the most-watched esports tournaments of 2025.

Like last year, the 2025 record relies on viewership knowledge from esports knowledge platform Esports Charts, which does not include Chinese audience numbers. Nonetheless, this overview paints an insightful image of the latest esports occasions calendar, highlighting two dominant titles by viewership: League of Legends and Cell Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB).

The highest 10 most-viewed esports occasions of 2025 kick off with the BLAST.television Austin Main 2025, an occasion that was particular for a number of causes.

It was the primary Main to happen within the US for the reason that ELEAGUE Main: Boston in 2018. Furthermore, Austin proved to be a worthy host metropolis, as its Main turned the most-watched Counter-Strike competition in historical past by hours watched.

From June third to twenty second, 563,411 common viewers collected over 76m hours watched throughout the occasion’s practically 136-hour airtime. As compared, the largest CS match by peak viewership (2021’s PGL Stockholm Main) recorded round 71m hours watched.

With a determine of two.7m, the 2021 Stockholm Main nonetheless stays as the best veiwed Counter-Strike occasion ever.

In the meantime, the BLAST.television Austin Main 2025 peaked at 1.79m viewers throughout the Grand Closing between MongolZ and Team Vitality. The latter emerged victorious, profitable $500,000 (~£370,000) of the occasion’s $1.25m (~£926,000) complete prize pool.

In line with match organiser BLAST, the Austin Main additionally generated an economic impact of $102m (~£76.4m).

The MLBB Skilled League Philippines (MPL Philippines) is the cellular recreation’s franchised tier-one circuit within the Philippines. 

As the primary regional MLBB competitors of the 12 months, MPL Philippines Season 15 befell from February twenty eighth to June 1st. Eight groups competed for the occasion’s $150,000 (~£111,000) prize pool, with Workforce Liquid PH lifting the trophy.

Regardless of being a regional regular-season match, 1.8m peak viewers witnessed Workforce Liquid defeat its rival ONIC Philippines within the Grand Closing. This marks the highest viewership figure thus far for MPL Philippines, surpassing the Season 14 file of 1.6m peak viewers.

Furthermore, 192,071 common viewers tuned in for over 31m hours watched throughout Season 15’s 162-hour airtime. 

2025 noticed vital modifications to the worldwide League of Legends esports ecosystem. To accommodate the introduction of an additional international tournament earlier than the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI), all regional leagues held kickoff occasions in early 2025.

In South Korea, the inaugural LCK Cup 2025 invited its 10 groups to struggle from January fifteenth till February twenty third for a single seed on the new First Stand world occasion. Throughout its 112-hour airtime, 428,479 common viewers collected over 48m hours watched.

LCK’s kickoff competitors additionally featured a novel Group Stage format by which groups from Group Baron would face off in opposition to opponents from Group Elder. Furthermore, it was the official LCK debut of Fearless Draft, League of Legends’ new decide/band system.

Ultimately, it was Hanwha Life Esports (HLE) which emerged victorious and later turned the inaugural First Stand champion.

The most well-liked match of the LCK Cup, nonetheless, was the Playoffs sequence between HLE and LCK legends T1. The high-stakes match attracted 1.9m peak viewers and resulted within the elimination of T1 from the match.

First Stand itself recorded 1.1m peak viewers and 509,029 common viewers, and, subsequently, couldn’t make it among the many prime 10 occasions by viewership this 12 months.

The LCK’s reputation amongst esports followers endured all through the league’s second chapter of the 12 months: the LCK 2025 Season.

Spanning greater than 5 months (April 2nd – September twenty eighth), the LCK 2025 Season featured a complete prize pool of ₩562.5m (~£281,000) and over 450 broadcast hours. 

The massive-scale competitors was divided into a number of sub-events, which supplied seeding for later rounds, and, most significantly, qualification for the remaining two world tournaments in 2025.

LCK’s Road to MSI 2025 was the primary spotlight of the spectacle. From June seventh to fifteenth, six LCK groups battled by means of a single-elimination bracket crammed with best-of-fives (BO5) solely. While Gen.G Esports got here out on prime, T1 later defeated Hanwha Life to safe the second and remaining slot for MSI 2025.

With 1.97m peak viewers, this significant match additionally turned the most-watched sequence on the Highway to MSI. The competitors itself accounted for 19 airtime hours of the complete LCK 2025 Season, recording 752,227 common viewers and practically 15m hours watched.

It’s value noting that this could technically make the LCK Highway to MSI 2025 the seventh hottest occasion, because it has been recorded as a standalone occasion by Esports Charts, separate from the LCK 2025 Season. Nevertheless, the LCK has this occasion as a part of the general 2025 Season, and so Esports Insider has added it as a part of the complete competitors.

The LCK 2025 Season set an excellent larger viewership file in a while, main as much as the season-ending League of Legends World Championship. Just like Highway to MSI, the Season Playoffs had been filled with BO5s throughout a double-elimination bracket.

As soon as once more, T1 was the preferred group to look at amongst LCK followers regardless of Gen.G lifting the season trophy. T1’s elimination match in opposition to the regional champion recorded a whopping 2.03m peak viewers.

Regardless of the group’s elimination, T1 certified for Worlds because the area’s fourth seed and made League of Legends historical past later within the 12 months. Furthermore, the fan favorite performed in all 5 of the season’s most-watched matches (excluding LCK Highway to MSI), every surpassing 1m peak viewers.

Whereas ESL’s Snapdragon Professional Collection (SPS) is a multi-genre cellular esports circuit, its MLBB competitors continued to dominate the viewership leaderboard throughout the 2025 version.

From April seventh to thirteenth, the SPS Mobile Masters 2025 noticed 12 groups from throughout the globe battle for $200,000 (~£148,000). Inviting high-profile groups and widespread neighborhood casters, reminiscent of R7 Tatsumaki, paid off, because the occasion garnered a mean of 468,387 viewers and 17m hours watched throughout its 36-hour airtime.

As well as, 2.72m peak viewers watched ONIC Philippines win the Grand Closing in opposition to RRQ Hoshi. The Semifinals between RRQ Hoshi and Workforce Liquid ID turned the second-most widespread sequence at Cell Masters with 1.6m peak viewers.

Since its rebranding from the Southeast Asia Cup in 2024, the MLBB Mid Season Cup (MSC) has been the primary main worldwide match of the sport’s annual aggressive calendar. 

Its 2025 version befell from July tenth till August 2nd in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that includes a whopping prize pool of $3m (~£2.26m). Equally spectacular had been its viewers numbers. 

The 2025 Mid Season Cup recorded 3m peak viewers — nearly 700,000 greater than the earlier 12 months. Though Workforce Liquid PH claimed the trophy within the Grand Closing, it was a Knockout Stage sequence between RRQ.H and SRG.OG, which attracted probably the most viewers.

General, the Mid Season Cup garnered 599,873 common viewers and over 50m hours watched throughout its 84-hour airtime. These numbers make it the most-viewed world MLBB match of the 12 months.

Nevertheless, it must be famous that MLBB’s season-ending M7 World Championship would have probably exceeded MSC’s viewership statistics this 12 months if it had taken place. The championship is often held in December however was delayed till January 2026 to create space for the SEA Games 2025.

The MPL Indonesia Season 16 was Indonesia’s remaining tier-one competitors earlier than the M7 World Championship in January 2026. 

From August twenty second till November 2nd, 9 groups competed for a ₹4.86m (~£223,000) prize pool in addition to two coveted slots within the annual championship. These seeds got to back-to-back MPL champion ONIC and Season 16 runner-up Alter Ego.

The Grand Closing between the 2 groups was additionally the most-watched sequence of the occasion, attracting over 3.1m peak viewers. As well as, practically 460,093 common viewers collected over 101m hours watched throughout Season 16’s 220-hour airtime.

Following this 12 months’s modifications to League of Legends’ aggressive ecosystem, the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) 2025 was not the primary, however the second worldwide LoL match of the season.

Going down from June twenty seventh till July twelfth, the occasion noticed LCK legends T1 and Gen.G persevere in opposition to worldwide rivals to conflict within the Grand Closing. A record-breaking 3.44m peak viewers witnessed Gen.G defeat T1 and win the lion’s share of MSI’s $2m (~£1.5m) prize pool.

Regardless of being the preferred MSI version in LoL historical past, MSI 2025’s common viewership of  955,205 was barely decrease in comparison with its predecessor. Nonetheless, the occasion recorded 75m hours watched throughout practically 79 hours of airtime.

While the Korean fandom contributed considerably to those viewership numbers, the double-elimination format with Fearless Draft was additionally obtained nicely by LoL followers worldwide. Furthermore, co-streamers reminiscent of Marc ‘Caedrel’ Lamont continued to draw a big proportion of esports viewership.

The second-most-watched esports match of 2025 is MPL Indonesia Season 15, underscoring the large reputation of Cell Legends: Bang Bang esports, particularly among the many Indonesian neighborhood. 

With two MPL Indonesia occasions featured on this record, the nation stays the strongest area inside the MLBB ecosystem by way of viewership. Moreover, it’s a formidable feat for a regional match to beat viewers information of prestigious world competitions, reminiscent of MSI and Counter-Strike’s Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Cologne.

MPL Indonesia Season 16 ran from March seventh till June fifteenth, with ONIC and RRQ Hoshi qualifying for the Mid-Season Cup below the gaze of 4.1m peak viewers. The general match garnered 488,525 common viewers and over 113m hours watched throughout its practically 232-hour airtime.

Maybe most significantly, Season 15 turned the preferred MPL Indonesia version thus far and the third-most-watched match in MLBB esports historical past. Solely the M4 and M5 World Championships have recorded larger peak viewership.

The 2025 League of Legends World Championship (Worlds 2025) made esports historical past in a number of methods. For its winner, T1, this was the group’s third consecutive Summoner’s Cup and its sixth Worlds title total — an achievement which no different League of Legends organisation has achieved earlier than.

By way of viewership, Worlds 2025 was the preferred esports match of the 12 months by a big margin. The Grand Closing between T1 and KT Rolster drew 6.75m peak viewers. 

Furthermore, LCK followers witnessed the climax of the so-called Telecom Battle, a decade-long rivalry between two esports organisations, every represented by a serious South Korean telecommunications firm (SK Telecom and KT Company).

Main as much as this second, 17 groups had been competing from October 14th till November ninth for the occasion’s $5m (~£3.7m) prize pool. All through practically 89 broadcast hours, 1,534,400 common viewers collected over 136m hours watched.

Nevertheless, regardless of the importance of the occasion and its Grand Closing for League of Legends esports, 2025 Worlds recorded barely decrease peak viewership than last year’s edition. With 6.85m peak viewers, the 2024 World Championship stays the most-watched esports occasion in historical past, placing its successor in second place.

Dota 2’s most prestigious world occasion, The Worldwide, noticed its fourteenth version change into the third hottest Dota match of all time. The Grand Closing between Xtreme Gaming and champion Workforce Falcons was adopted by 1.78m peak viewers. 

General, The International 2025 recorded 582,117 common viewers and over 63m hours watched throughout a 108-hour airtime.

Equally, VALORANT Champions 2025 turned the third-most-viewed VCT occasion thus far, with a formidable 1.47m viewers tuning in to the Grand Closing between Fnatic and the winner NRG. 

Moreover, Champions 2025 garnered 466,462 common viewers and practically 48m hours watched throughout its 102-hour airtime. Nevertheless, in accordance with Riot Games, the viewership peak, together with China, is 5m.

Cell esports confirmed sturdy viewership all year long, even exterior of MLBB. The PUBG Cell World Cup 2025 peaked at 1.38m viewers on its remaining day. Broadcast for just below 39 hours, the competitors recorded 450,802 common viewers and round 17m hours watched.

Furthermore, Counter-Strike 2’s second Main of the 12 months additionally managed to achieve the 1m mark, recording a peak viewing figure of 1.58m.