On the second day of the Play-In stage at Worlds 2024, GAM Esports faced Fukuoka SoftBank HAWKS in an intense Asian derby. While 100 Thieves and Rainbow7 represented the Americas in another key matchup. While these games didn’t quite match the popularity of the opening day’s matches, which attracted a diverse and large global League of Legends audience, they still pulled in millions of viewers for the year-end event.
The clash between GAM Esports and Fukuoka SoftBank HAWKS stood out as the more popular match of the day, reaching a peak viewership of 1.16 million. This surge was primarily driven by Vietnamese fans, though audiences from China, Korea, and Japan also contributed significantly. In total, about 56.3% of the peak viewership on Day 2 came from Asian regions.
Although the Asian audience dominated viewership for the first game. The second match between 100 Thieves and Rainbow7 achieved its million-plus viewership through strong support from the Americas.
100 Thieves’ game against Rainbow7 saw major backing from North American and Spanish-speaking fans, including those in Spain and Latin America. English-language commentators like Caedrel, alongside the official Riot Games Twitch channel, drew some of the highest numbers during this match.
Ibai
Spanish celebrity co-caster Ibai also contributed, reaching a peak of 98.4K viewers. Though this was lower than the numbers he typically draws when casting for his own KOI team. Other Spanish-speaking viewers tuned in via the official LLA and LVPes channels, along with several smaller co-casters supporting Rainbow7 in their victory over 100T.
While North and Latin American viewership was robust, it was the Vietnamese audience that led the charge. Becoming the most-watched language group of the day, with over 402.3K peak viewers.
Vietnamese support for GAM Esports was a driving force on Day 2, with viewership reaching half of last year’s Vietnamese peak during the grand finals. Showing strong potential early in Worlds 2024. If GAM Esports qualifies for the main stage, Vietnamese viewership could set new records.
Vietnamese viewership
The Vietnamese viewership came from various channels, with the official Vietnam Championship Series YouTube channel pulling in 239.8K peak viewers, making it not only the top Vietnamese stream but also the most popular overall stream of the day by a wide margin. Its peak was over 113K higher than the second-most popular channel.
In addition to the official channel, Vietnamese co-casters like Thầy Giáo Ba, streaming on platforms like YouTube Live and NimoTV, added to the viewership. The official VCS TikTok account also contributed, with 31.1K peak viewers, making it the most-followed TikTok account in League of Legends esports—a trend now being adopted by other regions this year.
Vietnamese viewership for League of Legends continues to grow steadily, and with GAM Esports’ potential qualification for the main event, expectations are high for a record-breaking year. Meanwhile, audiences from the Americas, Spain, and other Asian regions also showed promise, with more opportunities to peak as the tournament progresses.
