Last year, the Staples Center in Los Angeles sold out in just one hour for the League of Legends world championships. Thousands of gaming fans packed the arena to watch top players compete for a $1 million prize.
Online, the event was even bigger. It attracted 32 million viewers through various streaming platforms, making it the largest esport event of all time. Esports has a booming industry with dedicated fans who spend hours watching streams online.
But how does esports compare to television? We looked at the ratings of esports and television over the years to see just how popular games like League of Legends and StarCraft 2 are compared to the heavyweights in television.
The verdict is interesting. While esports can’t compete with top-tier broadcast events like the Super Bowl or World Cup, the viewership is still large enough for any TV network to be happy to broadcast them. Today’s esports scene even outshines South Korea’s legendary Brood War industry from the last decade.
Low Tier
In 2005, Ongamenet broadcasted esports on South Korean television, featuring StarCraft: Brood War’s richest and most prestigious competition, and averaged 1.5 million viewers. This is comparable to the Evolution Champion Series, the biggest fighting game tournament that reached 1.7 million viewers in 2013.
DreamHack Winter 2013, one of the biggest esports events in Europe, drew 2.8 million viewers.
For comparison, Bill O’Reilly, the highest rated cable news host in the United States, earns an average of 2.6 million viewers on his show. One of his more exclusive broadcasts, an interview with President Obama, had 4.2 million viewers. Baseball’s MLB American League Championship Series game 2 between the Boston Red Sox and the Detroit Tigers drew 8.26 million viewers.
But traditional sports aren’t a perfect comparison either. Esports are unique and it’s interesting to see how they compare to big-name TV personalities. Another applicable comparison is AMC’s Breaking Bad, which reached 10.3 million viewers for its series finale, just slightly higher than the 2012 LCS championships.
Middle Tier
In the middle tier, broadcasts that attract 5 million to 30 million viewers are considered a success. The 2012 League of Legends World Championships drew 8.2 million viewers, surpassing the first round of the 2013 MLB Playoffs. Game 7 of the 2013 NBA finals, in which the Miami Heat beat the San Antonio Spurs, averaged nearly 17.7 million viewers.
AMC’s Breaking Bad series finale reached 10.3 million viewers, which was the third highest rating of all time for a TV cable series finale. The 2012 LCS championships came close to that number.
High Tier
While big esports events can compete with average TV broadcasts, they still fall short compared to the biggest leagues of broadcast television. The League of Legends 2013 World Championships attracted 32 million viewers, but this is still lower than the 2012 NFL Wildcard playoff matchup and the NFL playoff game this year.
The Super Bowl remains the most watched television show in American history, with this year’s final attracting 111.5 million viewers. The opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics reached over 1 billion viewers worldwide.
Although it may be a long time before an esports event can challenge the top-tier broadcasts on this list, it’s clear that esports and the gaming audience are growing every year. With the success of esports streaming on platforms like Twitch, it wouldn’t be surprising to see esports transition to television soon.
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