Win.gg
Dota 2
The International 2019 is the most viewed Dota 2 event ever The International 2019 is the most viewed Dota 2 event ever
The International 9 was the most-watched Dota 2 broadcast to date, according to
new stats revealed by Esports Charts.
The statistics firm says at least 1.96 million people tuned in for the matchup between OG and Team Liquid in the grand finals. A million of those viewers visited the English broadcast, while Russian language streams accounted for a very respectable 670,000.
Remarkably, these stats don’t include figures from Chinese platforms as that data is harder to procure. Considering Dota 2 has a strong presence there and that Shanghai hosted the International 9, the actual viewer count could be much higher.
Team Liquid vs. OG, PSG.LGD push big viewer numbers
Esports Charts published an estimate for the aforementioned Liquid vs. OG matchup, showing a 30 million peak viewers for that bout in the Chinese region. The PSG.LGD vs Liquid match in the lower bracket finals supposedly hit 35 million. Even if the Chinese stats are just 10% of that estimate, it would still be an impressive showing that proves Dota 2 is stronger than ever.
Compare those numbers to The International 8 in 2018, which held the previous record after garnering an impressive 1.21 million peak viewers outside China’s borders.
Viewership wasn’t the only eye-popping metric for The International 9.
This year’s grand tournament set the esports prize pool record with $32 million
being put up for grabs across the bracket, edging out the Fortnite World Cup’s $30 million in the final crowdfunding push and handily beating The International’s own $25 million record from last year..
While The International 9 couldn’t claim top honors for viewership —
Fortnite took that trophy home
— it shows that we may be entering a boom period for the relevancy of esports. The corporate world hasn’t been able to ignore the potential gains of getting involved, with more major brands than ever spending big dollars to increase their presence and visibility among a young and energetic demographic.
Not every league is pulling these kinds of numbers. In fact, the flow of dollars is weighted heavily toward the top, with Fortnite, Dota 2, League of Legends, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive owning a vast majority of the pie.
But as more people buy into the hype, the benefits of this explosion in popularity should trickle down the ladder as they aspire to be part of the spectacle at all points of the spectrum.
M Alzamora
About M Alzamora
There are few things that writer M Alzamora loves more in life than Pokemon. And there are even fewer things that she loves more than her favorite Pokemon, Eevee. But M’s appreciation for gaming isn’t just limited to Nintendo’s famous pocket monsters. She’s interested in every type of game across every genre of gaming, and she has the credentials to prove it. M’s work has also been seen on Working Classicists and gaming sites.
View full profile
Read Also
Dota 2
ESIC hand down ruling in EWC Dota match-fixing case: Lifetime ban for coach as DarkMago gets a nickel
Michael Hassall
South American Dota 2 player Gonzalo "DarkMago" Herrera will be banned for five years from competitive Dota 2, with his coach Juan "Vintage" Angulo banned permanently, following the results of an The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) investigation. ESIC handed down the findings and rulings from its investigation into match-fixing allegations leveled at members of South American Dota 2 team PlayTime during the Esports World Cup on Sep. 10, in a ...
News
Polystrike Turns a Dota 2 Mod Into a Standalone Tactical Shooter
Hannan Mundia
After the community-made mod found success within the community, developer and publisher Robin Entertainment has decided to turn Polystrike into a proper standalone game. Community-made mods of games finding success within the respective game’s community is nothing new. However, only a handful of those mods are able to go on and become a standalone game. One of the more recent examples is The Forgotten City, which started as a mod ...
Dota 2
Team Spirit wins TI15 to lift a record third Aegis of Champions
Michael Hassall
Team Spirit has defeated TEAM VISION in the grand finals of TI15, The International 2025. In a full five-game series on Aug. 23, Spirit pulled out all the stops and narrowly defeated an incredible VISION team in a back-and-forth series in Shanghai, China. With Spirit’s victory, Illya "Yatoro" Mulyarchuk and Magomed "Collapse" Khalilov become the first ever three-time TI champions, and Team Spirit becomes the first ever organization to lift ...
Dota 2
The International 2026 (TI15) Finals Preview and Predictions
Michael Hassall
The International 2026, TI15, has reached its final day, and just three teams remain in the fight for the Aegis of Champions. With the lower bracket final and Grand Final still to come, everything comes down to one final day of Dota 2 action. The lower bracket finalists will first battle for the right to reach the main event’s final series, while the winner will advance to face the upper-bracket ...
Dota 2
TI15’s opening ceremony weaves a tapestry of emotion for Valve’s storied title
Michael Hassall
The main stage of The International 2026, TI15, kicked off today with the traditional opening ceremony heralding the start of the biggest celebration of Dota 2 on the calendar. On Aug. 20 fans in Shanghai, China, and at home, were treated to a rousing 11-minute series of performances and video packages, introducing TI15’s main stage show. Here’s how the magic unfolded: The ceremony began with a graphic which quite literally ...
Dota 2
The International 2026 (TI15) Playoffs preview and predictions
Michael Hassall
The Group Stage of The International 2026, TI15, is in the books and we’ve whittled down 16 of the world’s best Dota 2 teams to just eight finalists. One of these talented lineups will be the ones lifting the Aegis of Champions come Sunday, Aug. 23, but until then, there’s plenty of playoff shenanigans that could go on. Below we’ve put together a preview of the upcoming Playoff Games, along ...
News
The Esports Nations Cup Has Been Postponed to November 2027
Ben Boland
The 2026 Esports Nations Cup has been suspended until 2027. The Esports Foundation announced the delay on August 18, citing ongoing regional uncertainty. The inaugural competition was scheduled to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, comprising over 100 national teams and featuring 16 different games, including League of Legends. According to the Esports Foundation, this decision follows ongoing developments in the region and consultation with key stakeholders. Moving the event ...
