Viewership record at VCT Madrid: 1,6 million views in final

26 March 2024

We had to be patient, but last week, it was finally time for the first major international VALORANT tournament of the year. On Thursday, March 14th, the first VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) event took place in Madrid and it ended up setting off the year with a bang. Not only did North American esports organization Sentinels take home the title and $ 250.000 in prize money, but the grand finale between Sentinels and South Korean team Gen.G also set a new all-time viewership record for VALORANT esports. No less than 1,6 million individual viewers tuned in to the final clash on Wednesday evening.

VALORANT Champions 2022 record broken

Peak viewership statistics are very valuable to esports publishers, players and teams alike, as they give a good indication of the popularity of a certain game or event. In the case of VCT Masters Madrid 2024, it was the record for peak viewership that was broken. Peak viewership refers to the maximum number of individual viewers that were simultaneously tuned into the stream in question, in this case the 2024 VCT Masters Madrid grand final between Sentinels and Gen.G, at any one time.

The peak moment during the 2024 VCT Masters Madrid grand final consisted of an incredible 1,6 million viewers, which was more than any other VALORANT event had ever generated up to that point. The previous record was set during the final of VALORANT Champions 2022 between Brazilian esports organization LOUD and North American side OpTic Gaming. This was a Turkish offline event organized by Riot Games that took place from August 31st 2022 to September 18th 2022. At that time, 1,505 million viewers tuned into the grand finale at the point of peak viewership.

First Masters in 3 years for Sentinels

During 2024 VCT Masters Madrid, 1,6 million viewers witnessed how Sentinels managed to take home their first Masters trophy in three years. In 2021, the American team managed to clinch the title at VALORANT Champions Tour 2021 in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, but they failed to win another Masters since then. Until now that is, because the Americans won the most recent Masters in Madrid after a fantastic comeback in the very last stages of the grand finale.
Gen.G started strong in the final, winning the first map (Breeze) 13-8 and quickly gaining the lead on Bind after that. At a score of 10-7 though, Sentinels suddenly seemed to find their spirits, helping them to get back into the match and win the map 12-14 to make it 1-1. Gen. G was taken aback, but they still managed to make map three (Ascent) theirs, making it 2-1 in their favor.

It looked like Gen.G was on the path to victory by that time, but Sentinels’ Zachary “zekken” Patrone had other ideas. On the fourth map (Split), the American played what could well be the best round of his career, managing an ACS of 366 and 29 kills by himself. Sentinel’s following 10-13 victory created the need for a fifth and final map, Icebox, which was dominated by the American side. An eventual 6-13 victory meant that Sentinels could lift their first VCT Masters trophy in three years.