VALORANT Champions 2023 Viewership Numbers Missing Key Data
VALORANT Champions 2023 has been an action-packed tournament with plenty of surprises and excitement. However, the publicly available viewership numbers for the group stage show a slight decline compared to previous years. But there’s more to the story that could potentially boost global viewership to new heights.
During the group stage of Champions 2023, the match between NAVI and LOUD in Group D decider drew a peak viewership of 713,960 viewers, as reported by Esports Charts. Three other matches also surpassed the 600K mark. Overall, the event has averaged 404,768 viewers over 59 hours of airtime, accumulating a total of 23.9 million hours watched.
Related: VALORANT Champions 2023 scores, schedule, and format
Based on this data, the viewership numbers for the group stage fall slightly short of the figures from the Champions group stages of 2021 and 2022. In those years, the group stage averaged 425,887 and 490,607 viewers respectively, with peak viewership reaching 836,991 and 860,353 viewers. The total hours watched were 30.3 million and 31.9 million, respectively.
However, this data fails to account for a significant audience demographic: Chinese streaming viewers. The FAQ section for Champions 2023 broadcast platforms does not mention major streaming services in China such as Huya, Douyu, and Bilibili (yes, the same Bilibili that defeated NRG twice). With more Chinese teams participating in Champions 2023 than any other international event and their impressive performance, including Bilibili and EDG reaching playoffs, the rise in Chinese viewership could compensate for the missing numbers.
Unfortunately, Chinese streaming platforms like Huya and Douyu do not disclose viewer counts but use a “Heat” index that takes into account factors like concurrent viewers, broadcast duration, and interaction. As Esports Charts explains in a post about Chinese viewership, the size of the streaming market in China and VALORANT’s growing popularity suggest that the rise in Chinese viewership could bridge the gap in numbers.
It’s worth mentioning that non-Chinese viewership has seen a slight decrease this year. This could be attributed to a few factors. Firstly, some of the most watched teams from the Americas and EMEA region didn’t qualify for Champions, including Sentinels, Karmine Corp, BBL Esports, and KOI. Additionally, the tournament being held in Los Angeles and the time zone differences make it challenging for EMEA fans to stay up late and Pacific fans to wake up early to watch the matches.
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