CBLOL Academy serves as the Brazilian Academy League of Legends circuit. Offering emerging players a platform to display their talents in the tier-2 scene, aiming to ascend to the region’s top competition. Brazil has long been a hub of esports viewership, and its League of Legends scene has recently grown to become one of the country’s most beloved esports titles. Notably, the CBLOL Academy Split 2 2024 set a new viewership record, becoming the most-watched second-tier event in Brazil for League of Legends.
While games like Counter-Strike and Valorant have seen a slight decline in Portuguese-language viewership this year, the audience for League of Legends in Brazil continues to expand. This trend is crucial as more established regions like North America are experiencing significant viewership declines. Making the growth in smaller regions like Brazil and Vietnam vital for maintaining the global audience for League of Legends.
CBLOL Academy
The CBLOL Academy Split 2 2024 event accumulated a total of 3.46 million hours watched throughout the split. Historically, viewership for the CBLOL Academy hasn’t been particularly high, but this year’s Split 2 was different. Brazilian Twitch streamer and former League of Legends pro Baiano played a significant role in boosting the event’s viewership.
Baiano founded his own League of Legends team, Ilha das Lendas, in 2023. It’s no surprise that the team featured in four of the Split’s top five most-watched matches. As Baiano’s community casting support was instrumental in driving viewership. Ilha das Lendas, which qualified for Split 2 after winning the qualifiers, ultimately finished in 4th place after being defeated by Keyd Stars Academy in the lower bracket semifinal.
Keyd Stars Academy advanced to the grand finals against paiN Gaming Academy, securing the Split 2 title with a 3-2 victory in the best-of-five match, which peaked at 114.8K viewers. Both Keyd Stars Academy and paiN Gaming Academy have now moved on to the Americas Challengers 2024 event. Unlike the Valorant Challengers events, this League of Legends tournament does not determine which teams will move up to the top-tier circuit next year.
Baiano Influence
Baiano’s influence on the tournament’s viewership was unmistakable. He streamed the event on both his Twitch and YouTube Live channels, which were the most-watched of the tournament. The official CBLOL YouTube Live account also garnered substantial viewership, with more than 10 other community casters covering the event, although none matched Baiano’s popularity.
The CBLOL Academy’s popularity extends beyond Brazil. Compared to other regional League of Legends circuits worldwide, the Brazilian academy league was more popular this year than many other top-tier regional circuits. It even surpassed the LLA Closing 2024 event in peak concurrent viewers, despite the LLA being the premier Latin American League of Legends circuit. In 2024, Riot Games plans to replace the LLA with a new pan-Americas circuit, aiming to combine viewership across North and South America.
The CBLOL Academy also outshone many of Europe’s top regional circuits, except for the French league, which reached 135.5K peak viewers for its Summer 2024 event thanks to strong community caster support. Nevertheless, the Brazilian event achieved higher peak viewership than Spain’s Superliga Summer 2024 and the DACH region’s Die Techniker Prime League Summer 2024.
Looking ahead, the CBLOL Academy is likely to maintain its high viewership. Ilha das Lendas made an impressive debut, finishing in fourth place, and is expected to return next year to challenge for a spot in the top-level competition. Keep track of the Brazilian academy league through Esports Charts statistics, as it may become one of the most popular League of Legends circuits in 2025.
