Everything comes to an end sooner or later, and according to the Swiss system, the Budapest Major tournament can boast of the result of the audience. The analysis shows that over 950,000 people watched the teams rush to the playoffs.
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Peak numbers and average audience figures
According to Esports Charts analytics, the maximum online audience reached 970,598 viewers during the action of the confrontation between G2 Esports and Team Falcons. We are talking about the decisive match of the third stage of Counter-Strike 2, where the stakes were off the charts.
The average online for the entire Swiss Stage was 552,748 people. If we compare with the third stage of the BLAST Austin Major, where the average was 667,705, we get a decline of 17%. Moreover, in the end, when the MVM Dome playoffs start, the situation is sure to change – usually in the decisive stages, the audience soars.
The growth of Portuguese and Mongolian broadcasts
Two regions have grown significantly at Budapest Major. Portuguese broadcasts attracted 283,380 viewers, an increase of 22% compared to the Austin Major. The Mongolian streams actually shot up: 86,634 viewers, which is 65% more than the entire tournament in Texas showed.
The reason for the boom on Portuguese—language channels without complicated meanings is that three Brazilian teams got into the Swiss Stage. paiN Gaming and Imperial Esports took off ahead of schedule, but FURIA passed with a score of 3:0, becoming one of the first to guarantee a place in the playoffs.
Comparison with the second stage of Budapest Major
Between the second and third stages of the event, the audience peak grew by more than 300,000 people. The fight for tickets always heats up the situation — fans stick to the screens when the teams are teetering on the brink of relegation.
Top matches by audience: highlights and statistics
The decisive episodes of the final Swiss Stage produced several real hits. The G2 Esports versus Team Falcons showdown attracted 856,000 viewers at its peak, setting an absolute record for the third stage. The match decided the fate of both teams: the Falcons made it to the playoffs, while G2 with m0NESY and NiKo took off ahead of schedule, even though they remained favorites among many analysts.
Natus Vincere closed their series against B8 with a score of 2:0, becoming the first team to secure a place at the MVM Dome. FaZe Clan repeated this result a little later, beating Passion UA also 2-0. Both teams went through all three stages of the group stage — a real marathon, where every mistake could cost a ticket.
Team Spirit topped the list in terms of average audience figures at the third stage, finishing the Swiss race with three wins out of three possible. Around donk, who is famous for his solo aces in rounds, a simple guy gives out moments that make the chat start to scream a lot and let out positive emotions. FURIA took the second place, also passing the stage without defeats. The Fallen team is now at the peak of its form, and molodoy has become one of the hot names of the autumn-winter season. MOUZ, with one of the youngest teams of the tournament, gathered over 480,000 average audience.
An interesting detail: Brazilian teams were seen in all the top matches by the audience. All five most watched episodes of the first stage included Brazilian lineups — Fluxo, RED Canids, Legacy, Imperial Esports. Budapest Major has set a new record for the number of Brazilian players in the Counter-Strike major: 28 people. No other country has even come close to such a representation.
A historical record for StarLadder
Even if the Budapest Major is inferior to the Austin Major in some respects, it is still the largest event in the history of StarLadder. In the second stage, the peak audience surpassed the Berlin Major 2019, where 836,306 spectators gathered during the grand final of Astralis against AVANGAR.
The third stage has reached the million mark, which means that the playoffs can accelerate the numbers even more. Eight experienced Counter-Strike 2 teams with annual training sessions will compete for the title of major champions, and fans will definitely not miss this opportunity.
