The Esports World Cup, a historic event that included Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, and League of Legends on an international stage, has just wrapped up. The inaugural EWC featured top teams from every region duking it out on a massive stage, not only with a ton of prize money on the line but also allowing teams a platform to show what they got.
To understand the relative performance of each esports title in terms of betting and viewership, Abios has analyzed viewership figures and Kambi betting data from Counter-Strike, Dota 2 and LoL from 3-22 July.
The Esports World Cup – The big three esports betting performance
The EWC was the first time League of Legends (LoL), Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) and Dota 2 were featured as part of the same tier-1 competition. Although relatively high prize pools, the competitions in CS2 and LoL only featured 4 days of gameplay each. In comparison, Dota 2 saw one of the larger tournaments in its yearly circuit, Riyadh Masters.
Nonetheless, CS2 and LoL each saw higher spikes in betting volumes, speaking to the popularity of the titles. With new, shorter tournament formats, the ambiguity as to what teams would win could have also played a role in making the tournaments more engaging to bet on.
Counter-Strike 2
Counter-Strike 2 took place on July 17 – 21, with 15 of the best teams in the world competing for a prize pool of over $1 million. The competition featured an interesting Resurrection Stage, where the losers from the Opening Stage competed in a single elimination bracket to see which team survived and advanced to the Playoffs.
Natus Vincere ended up winning, taking home $400K after defeating G2 Esports in the finals.
EWC Counter-Strike 2 betting statistics
| Live vs Pre-match Betting | Live | Pre-match |
| % of turnover | 46% | 54% |
Top matches to bet on in EWC CS2
| Team 1 | Team 2 | Tournament Stage | % of turnover |
| Natus Vincere | G2 Esports | Grand Final | 14% |
| Natus Vincere | FaZe Clan | Quarterfinals | 10% |
| Team Spirit | G2 Esports | Quarterfinals | 9% |
| MOUZ | Natus Vincere | Semifinals | 9% |
| Team Vitality | Virtus.Pro | Quarterfinals | 8% |
Top teams to bet on EWC CS2
| Team | % of turnover |
| Natus Vincere | 9% |
| G2 Esports | 8% |
| MOUZ | 4% |
| Team Spirit | 3% |
| Virtus.Pro | 3% |
CS2 Viewership analysis
Over the 43-hour tournament, overall fan viewership amounted to over 10 million hours. The peak viewership was 757K, which was unsurprisingly during the Grand Finals, which was G2 versus NAVI.
All of the other most-viewed matches were also during the Playoffs, including MOUZ versus NAVI at 377K peak viewers and G2 versus TS at 355K.
Compared to other more established big CS2 tournaments, the inaugural EWC CS2 event had a pretty low viewership. For example, the PGL Major Copenhagen had almost 1.86 million peak viewers earlier this year.
Read more: VCT Champions Seoul 2024 Betting Analysis
CS2 Esports Ahead
September is when two big tournaments are taking place: ESL Pro League Season 20 and Blast Premier Fall Final 2024. All the biggest teams will be present, meaning the return of G2 and NAVI, who will meet again.
Both teams are strong choices, but NAVI may be the current leader since it had to beat top contenders like MOUZ, FaZe Clan, and Furia to face off against G2.
Read more: How Team Vitality uses Abios to up Fan Engagement
Dota 2: Riyadh Masters
With over 55 million hours watched, Riyadh Masters was the most popular event at the Esports World Cup. This is likely due to the tournament being much longer than other titles, being part of the ESL Pro Tour instead of a standalone event, and having the second-largest prize pool in the entire Dota 2 yearly tournament circuit.
A $5 million prize pool brought out the best of the best, including Entity, Virtus.Pro, beastcoast, and LGD Gaming in Group A and Heroic, PSG Quest, nouns, and MOUZ in Group B.
In the end, Gaimin Gladiators beat out Team Liquid in the Grand Finals after beating them in another 2-0 sweep in the Upper Bracket Finals.
EWC Dota 2 betting statistics
| Live vs Pre-match Betting | Live | Pre-match |
| % of turnover | 64% | 36% |
Top matchups EWC Dota 2*
| Team 1 | Team 2 | % of turnover |
| Entity | BetBoom Team | 5% |
| Team Liquid | Tundra Esports | 5% |
| Team Falcons | Gaimin Gladiators | 4% |
| Team Spirit | Team Liquid | 4% |
| Gaimin Gladiators | Team Liquid | 4% |
*With the group stage, teams met each other several times. As such, matchup data can account for several encounters in Dota 2 Riyadh Masters.
Top teams to bet on EWC Dota 2
| Team | % of turnover |
| Team Falcons | 2% |
| Team Spirit | 1% |
| Team Liquid | 1% |
| Gaimin Gladiators | 1% |
| Tundra Esports | 1% |
Dota 2 Viewership
Dota 2 was the most-watched discipline at the Esports World Cup and the most-watched Dota 2 event of the entire year despite the EWC’s streaming frustrations for fans.
The peak viewership reached over 417K, which were watching Gaimin Gladiators and Team Liquid in the first day of the Playoffs. This was followed by Team Liquid versus Team Falcons at 334K and Gaimin Gladiators versus Team Falcons at 321K.
Dota 2 Esports Ahead
Apart from The International, DreamLeague Season 24 is coming in October. The participants of this big event are still unknown. Right now, Team Liquid seems to be in a solid position. The organization has a lot of momentum. After getting 9th to 10th in DreamLeague Season 23, the team took second at the largest major of the year two months later, Riyadh Masters. Then, Team Liquid easily took first in Elite League Season 2.
Fans are clearly rooting for Team Liquid’s return to form. The team has consistently ranked high in big tournaments over the course of 2024, and DreamLeague Season 24 could be another W, thanks to fan support, determination, and skill. Sportsbooks can also benefit from keeping an eye on the team, as TL could be considered the underdog in some matchups.
League of Legends
The EWC LoL tournament had a lot of discourse online, with some fans arguing that it “doesn’t matter” because it’s not an official event. But with real cash on the line and the biggest teams competing, it still reflected the top talent and how we can expect them to perform later in the year.
T1 unsurprisingly became the victors of the League of Legends tournament at EWC, beating TOP Esports in the finals. To get to the top, T1 fought Billibi Gaming and Team Liquid, with both games ending with a 2-1 victory. But incredible plays from Faker kept the team ahead of the competition until the very end, allowing them to take home $400,000.
EWC LoL betting statistics
| Live vs Pre-match Betting | Live | Pre-match |
| % of turnover | 59% | 41% |
Top matches to bet on in EWC LoL
| Team 1 | Team 2 | Tournament Stage | % of turnover |
| T1 | Top Esports | Grand Finals | 24% |
| Bilibili Gaming | T1 | Quarterfinals | 18% |
| Team Liquid | Fnatic | Quarterfinals | 15% |
| T1 | Team Liquid | Semifinals | 14% |
| Top Esports | G2 Esports | Semifinals | 12% |
Top teams to bet on EWC LoL
| Team | % of turnover |
| Top Esports | 3% |
| T1 | 2% |
| G2 Esports | 1% |
| Gen.G | 1% |
| FlyQuest | 1% |
Viewership
Despite the negative rants, the League of Legends tournament was a massive success at the Esports World Cup. The peak viewership reached 1.12 million viewers, and the average viewer count was an impressive 566K.
The top-viewed match was T1 versus TOP Esports in the Finals by far, followed by T1 versus Team Liquid in the Semi-Finals at 964K and T1 versus Billibi Gaming in the Quarterfinals with 775K viewers.
Esports Analysis
The next big League of Legends event is Worlds, the culmination of every region’s Summer Split. All of the top-placing teams from all over the world will clash on an international stage in Europe.
Team Liquid will be watched in North America during the LCS Summer Finals. If this team makes it to Worlds, it will have a chance to win against some of the best squads from other regions, making it a strong underdog betting option.
But the safest option, as always, is for a team from LCK or LPL. T1 and Gen.G, in particular, had both excellent performances at the Esports World Cup, showing that they dominated not only against their own region but also against teams from all over the world.
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