The inaugural BLAST Slam Dota 2 event recorded a peak viewership of just under 200,000, becoming the 13th most-watched Dota 2 event of 2024.
BLAST Slam I, which was won by Russian organisation BetBoom Team, featured 10 teams and a $1m (~£787,073) prize pool.
According to esports data platform Esports Charts, BLAST Slam I recorded peak viewing figures of 199,888 alongside an average of 97,003 viewers across its 49-hour airtime. The event took place at the BLAST Studio in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The highest recorded peak viewership for a Dota 2 tournament remains 2021’s The International 10 organised by game developer and publisher Valve. The event took place in Bucharest, Romania and topped the charts with a peak viewership of 2.7m. Such high viewing figures can be attributed to the $40m (~£31.4m) prize pool, the largest prize pool for an individual esports tournament in history.
This year, the most popular Dota 2 event is The International 2024, which recorded 1.5m peak viewers.
BetBoom Team claimed $400,000 (~£314,891) in prize money after beating Tundra Esports in the BLAST Slam I Grand Finals. The next BLAST Slam event is set to take place in February 2025 with another $1m prize pool on the line. The second event will also feature 10 teams.
For BLAST, the conclusion of its first major Dota 2 tournament highlights the organiser’s continued expansion throughout 2024. In September, the organiser expanded into mobile esports with the creation of the BLAST Bash event.
BLAST’s 2024 tournaments have shown signs of an upward viewership trend with its Premier World Final and Rainbow Six Major Montreal recording increases.
