We're halfway through 2019 and on the verge of finding out the final teams who qualify for The International. With all the discussion about the DPC and its polarizing nature on the tournament scene, it's interesting to look at whether this also holds true from a viewership standpoint. Take a look:

peak viewership dota

As expected, the majors top the charts by far, with the peak viewership of the Chongqing Major barely edging out the numbers in Paris. On the other hand, the minors stick out like a sore thumb. The successes of ESL's events in Katowice and Birmingham (and the decent numbers posted by MDL Macau) suggest that certain non-DPC events can still attract a fair bit of attention, and that incentivizing the top teams to compete outside the few events wichi comprise that particular circuit could be greatly beneficial from a viewership perspective. The slight increase in peak numbers between the two StarLadder Minors suggest a growing interest in the scene as TI is inching ever closer.

Do you agree with these observations? Anything else worth pointing out? Let us know at @RivalryDOTA on Twitter!

Header image by Adela Sznajder / DreamHack

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