In spite of the favorites’ early elimination, the Arena of Valor Premier League 2024 has grown to be one of the most watched events in the game.
On July 7, Bangkok hosted the conclusion of the Arena of Valor Premier League 2024, securing its status as one of the largest worldwide competitions for Garena’s mobile title. With over 713,000 viewers at its height, the event broke several records and became one of the most well-attended events in the history of the series.
The top teams from regional leagues such as AOG, GCS, RPL, and ASL were on display as sixteen teams representing Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, and Indonesia participated. Prominent teams including GG Live, Saigon Phantom, Flash Wolves, and Talon Esports were among the competitors. Using a Swiss group stage format, the tournament’s field was reduced to just eight teams for the playoffs. Notably, Saigon Phantom, the 2023 Arena of Valor Premier League champions and the best team in Vietnam, lost all four of their games and were eliminated early.
The playoffs featured intensely contested best-of-7 series that were frequently decided by a single game’s margin, making them extremely competitive. Taiwan’s BanMei Gaming and Thailand’s Buriram United Esports squared off in the main match. With a dominating 4-1 result, BanMei Gaming prevailed and took home the $200,000 prize. Considering that the squad was only created last summer and that its current roster was only finalized in February 2024, this win represented the greatest monetary reward in the team’s history.
25.4 million hours were seen of the Arena of Valor Premier League 2024, with a peak of about 713,500 concurrent viewers. With this performance, the event moved up to second place in the series history, behind only the 2023 Arena of Valor Premier League. There was a little drop in the numbers from the prior year: peak online viewing dropped by over 27%, and watch time declined by 10%.
The early dismissal of elite teams and fan favorites is the main cause of this decline in viewership. For instance, Saigon Phantom was unable to go past the group stage, and despite having a longer run, well-known teams like Flash Wolves and Talon Esports were unable to advance to the finals. The grand final only came in third place in terms of peak viewership when the ratings of the most watched matches in the tournament were examined. Even with their win, BanMei Gaming’s average viewership per match was seventh. These findings imply that the finalist teams’ makeup was a major factor in the tournament’s overall drop in viewership.
Arena of Valor Premier League 2024 broke a few significant records in spite of a minor drop in overall statistics. At its peak, approximately 4,500 spectators watched the competition, which had the highest audience for Japanese-language broadcasts during the game. This exceeded the previous record for Japanese broadcasts in Arena of Valor, which stood at 2,600 spectators.
Furthermore, with 171,500 viewers, Arena of Valor Premier League 2024 broke the previous record for peak online viewing on the TikTok platform. Arena of Glory Spring 2024 held the previous record, reaching a peak of almost 165,300 views on TikTok.
The audience engagement for the mobile game Arena of Valor has been steadily increasing year after year. In terms of peak viewership and total viewing hours, the most recent Arena of Valor Premier League 2024 was the fourth-largest tournament in its competitive discipline.