IEM Katowice was most-watched ESL tournament series ever

ESL and Intel have revealed some statistics around their Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) event in Katowice, Poland this year, including the fact that over 174,000 fans showed up over two weekends, and that 157 million hours were watched by 232 million viewers, representing the most-watched ESL tournament series of all time.

The largest number of unique viewers in a single day was 20 million, which is hardly surprising considering how large the stakes were (the CS:GO competition was a Major event, after all) and the fact the broadcast was in 21 languages.

"The ESL esports week in Katowice is a guarantee of unforgettable moments and emotions, shattering expectations with record breaking attendance and viewership," said Ralf Reichert, CEO at ESL. "We're humbled and proud to be able to come back to this audience every year and share these magic moments in the Spodek Arena with the whole esports world watching. Esports has a very exciting year ahead, which I'm very proud to say got kicked off at ESL One and Intel Extreme Masters Katowice."

"With 232 million online viewers and another 174,000 enthusiasts watching at Spodek Arena, IEM Katowice 2019 gave gaming fans the world-class event they've come to expect from ESL and Intel, said John Bonini, Vice President/GM of the VR, Gaming and Esports Group at Intel Corporation. "Intel is deeply committed to powering record-breaking esports experiences by delivering amazing PC performance and innovation to the gaming community."

This CS:GO event was the highlight for ESL, as this gathered over 126 million hours watched by almost 195 million viewers, making it the most-watched ESL CS:GO tournament ever according to the press release. There was an average audience per minute of 860,000, with a peak day of 1,330,000, which is a lot more than StarCraft II managed, gathering 3.2 million hours, still representing an increase over last year.

Was this the best year for IEM Katowice yet?