The IEM Rio 2024 Counter-Strike 2 event experienced a notable increase in viewership compared to the previous year. The tournament, held in Brazil, marked only the second of its kind since the 2022 Major. According to Esports Charts, the event peaked at 709,317 viewers, which is approximately 150,000 more than the peak recorded for IEM Rio 2023. This surge in viewership places IEM Rio 2024 as the eighth most-watched Counter-Strike event of the year.
On average, the 2024 edition also outperformed its predecessor, drawing nearly 40,000 more viewers per hour, with an average of 289,111 viewers over the total broadcast duration of 49 hours and 50 minutes. It is worth noting that the timing of the event may have influenced these figures, as IEM Rio 2023 took place in April, while the 2024 edition was held later in the year.
Ukrainian esports organization Natus Vincere (NAVI) claimed victory at the event, defeating German team MOUZ in the best-of-five Grand Final. NAVI and MOUZ were also the most-watched teams of the tournament, accumulating 5.8 million and 5.6 million hours watched, respectively. These numbers significantly exceeded the third-most-watched team, FURIA, who garnered 2.4 million hours watched.
Despite FURIA’s absence from the final, the Portuguese language streams showed strong engagement, peaking at 245,503 viewers—just shy of the English broadcasts, which peaked at 294,124. The next highest viewership numbers came from Russian (177,548), Ukrainian (85,741), and Mongolian (37,335) language streams. The rise in Mongolian viewership can likely be attributed to The MongolZ, who finished in the top eight of the event.
In terms of broadcasting platforms, Twitch once again led the charge, hitting a peak viewership of 460,206, followed by YouTube with 268,271, and TikTok Live with 111,000 viewers. These figures highlight the growing appeal of Counter-Strike 2 tournaments across a range of global audiences and platforms.
