The days are long gone when gamers would hold LAN parties in their basements or dorm rooms in order to compete for power. These days, gamers are held in the same regard as real sportsmen, and the most prominent eSports competitions are the most popular source of entertainment for millions of individuals. Some baby boomers may be taken aback when they see the true magnitude of the size of this enterprise. In point of fact, though, everyone is aware of how massive eSports now is and how much money it really generates.
Money is obviously a factor in ranking the greatest eSports events, but there are many other distinguishing elements that contribute to the event’s success as well. Other than that, the distinguishing traits are competent event planners, appropriate profit turnouts, appropriate audience, and generous investors and bettors. As long as betting on eSports is permitted where you’re residing, and you are older than the legal age for such betting, it is entirely legal. After you create an account with a reputable sportsbook, you may expect them to check your details, including your age, identification, location, and payment options.
You may always utilize an offshore sportsbook if betting is prohibited in your state, which makes it entirely lawful to engage in eSports betting. As an example, the Texas sports betting legislation is a complex issue within the state, but several sportsbooks are licensed outside of Texas that are willing to provide their services to Texans who wish to bet on eSports.
We rank the following eSport tournaments by these three factors:
- Prize pool: The total sum of money awarded to winners and placeholders.
- Viewership: measures the number of different viewers or total viewing time for an event.
- Popularity: The game’s natural appeal to people as a competitive eSports title.
The International (TI)
That the TI is at the top of our list should come as no surprise to those who are familiar with eSports. For a variety of reasons, Dota 2 and its yearly tournament are the dominant force in this market. Dota 2 is not only one of the top MOBA games in the world, but it is also a Valve product, thus has the industry record for the greatest prize pools.
The latest iteration of TI claimed an improbable $40 million in awards, mostly due to crowdsourcing and other financial mechanisms. The eSports competition even surpassed its record and peaked at 2.7 million viewers, securing its place among the largest eSports competitions in history.
League of Legends World Championship
League of Legends surpasses its rivals and is quite certainly the most-watched eSports tournament of all time. While LoL’s “Worlds” may not be able to compete financially with Dota’s TI or Fortnite’s World Cup, it holds up with a respectable $6.7 million prize pool.
Riot Games also spends a lot on theatrical and atmospheric settings to make sure the event is always unique considering the number of spectators it receives. LoL’s “Worlds” is one of the titans of the eSports industry, with over 4 million peak viewers and an astounding 174 million total viewing hours.
CSGO Major Championships
CSGO is the epitome of eSports competition and a true veteran of eSports tournaments at that. From Counter Strike’s initial revolutionary beginnings through Counter Strike: Global Offensive. This videogame has only ever embodied all that eSports stands for. And the CSGO Majors have it all with 20 years of the largest and most important competition in the sector.
The most recent 2021 PGL Stockholm Major attracted fantastic viewership and excellent revenue. It is a general success thanks to a respectable prize fund of $2 million and a strong peak viewership of 2.7 million.
Fortnite World Cup
The first of its type, and obtaining a very well-liked start off. In 2019, Fortnite completely revolutionized the eSports sector by putting 200 players against one another for $30 million in rewards. The competition was set up by Epic Games with enormous prizes in the solo and duet events, and so made history when Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf, a single eSports competitor, won the championship and $3 million in prize money.
Another $3 million in prize money was awarded for the two-winner event. With roughly 2.3 million peak watchers, it is reasonable to say that the audience stood at quite an impressive number.
Honor of Kings Champion Cup
Arena of Valor provides solid evidence that, even in eSports competitions, just a little hardware may make a significant impact. It was first created for the Chinese market and introduced as a rival to Vainglory, a well-liked mobile MOBA.
The game soon gained popularity, reaching new heights and winning honours, including obtaining almost 100 million active players at once. With the most recent Champion Cup tournament featuring a $7.7 million prize pool and a respectable audience of 700–800K, the game has now grown to be an eSports juggernaut.