Thanks to co-streaming, the number of viewers for MSI 2023 almost reached the 1 million mark on the first day

The Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) of 2023 is set to break records for viewership in the event series, with almost 1 million viewers tuning in on a single day of the tournament. During the second match of the day featuring G2 Esports and LOUD, 971,646 viewers tuned in to the official broadcast or one of the many alternative streaming options available according to Esports Charts. This is a 26% increase from the maximum audience of over 723,000 people on the first day of MSI 2022.

The first day of the tournament had an average viewership of 635,156, which is a 17% increase from the opening day of MSI 2022. The growth in both metrics is particularly significant given that some of the larger teams, T1 and Gen.G, will only participate in the playoffs stage according to changes in format introduced by Riot for international events in 2023. In contrast, all teams started with the group stage at MSI 2022, where T1, the world's most popular team, defeated Saigon Buffalo on the first day of the event.

It is not surprising that MSI 2023 nearly reached 1 million viewers on a single day, considering that Riot Games has allowed co-streaming for the first time in the event's history. The caster community made up 41% of the peak audience on the first day.

YouTuber and former professional player for the Brazilian team, Gustavo "Baiano" Gomes, attracted over 125,000 viewers on his stream, surpassing at some point the official Twitch channel of Riot Games. Other streamers, such as Ibai Llanos, Mark "Caedrel" Lamont, and Felipe "Yoda" Noronha, also had tens of thousands of viewers who chose their streams over the official one, providing an alternative viewing experience.

Riot Games acknowledged the importance of such co-streams in combating the trend of declining viewership in esports, which has affected even legendary tournaments across multiple games. The recent LCS Spring finals had the lowest viewership numbers since Esports Charts began tracking the league in 2017. Earlier this year, content creator Tarik "tarik" Celik's channel for the game Valorant frequently outpaced the official VCT LOCK//IN stream, ultimately finishing the tournament with 7 million hours watched, the highest number for that competition.

The MSI 2023 tournament will continue on May 3 with a match between Bilibili Gaming and Rainbow7, followed by a game between Golden Guardians and GAM Esports.