Highlights
- LCK Cup 2026 topped Q1 with $25.7M media value, driven by strong viewership and dominance of teams like T1 and Gen.G.
- Four Counter-Strike tournaments ranked in the top 10, highlighting sustained global interest in CS2 esports events.
- Esports Charts’ metric focuses on audience size, sponsorship, and ad value.
According to Esports Charts' Q1 2026 media value report, published on April 7, nine esports tournaments generated over $10 million USD in estimated media value during the first quarter, with only one surpassing $20M. The LCK Cup 2026, Korea’s League of Legends (LoL) qualifier, ranked first with an estimated media value of $25,796,554, outperforming every international and regional tournament in the quarter.
The LCK Cup 2026 also accounted for the highest raw viewership record, continuing the dominance of South Korea’s LoL teams such as T1 and Gen. G. Throughout 2025, T1 dominated the viewership data, recording 65% more engagement than the team in second place, Gen. G.
According to reports, T1 has consistently been in the top spot among the most engaging esports teams since 2024. Counter-Strike (CS), a consistent title within the highest viewership chart, accounted for four of the ten highest-ranked events in 2026 Q1, as well.
The Global Top 10 Esports Tournaments by Media Value
While LCK took the first position, IEM Kraków 2026 placed second with an estimated $17,690,529 media value. The other three CS tournaments in the quarter, BLAST Open Spring 2026, ESL Pro League Season 23, and PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026, also placed within the top eight.
The rising audience interest in CS is partly driven by Counter-Strike 2’s renewed stability and growing viewer interest in many locations. Two LoL events, LEC Versus 2026 and First Stand 2026, placed in third and seventh position with media values of $16,989,633 and $10,640,824, respectively.
VALORANT tournaments, Valorant Masters Santiago and VCT 2026: Pacific Kickoff, took fourth and tenth places with $13,180,161 and $8,044,890 estimated media values, respectively. The M7 World Championship for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB), the only mobile esports tournament in the list, ranked ninth with a media value of $10,554,253, despite recording the highest raw viewership of any tournament in Q1.
According to Esports Charts, media value is not a direct revenue figure or total viewership data. It is an estimated sponsorship benchmark that accounts for audience size, duration, and regional ad prices while converting viewership and broadcast exposure into the hypothetical cost of on-screen banners. Raw viewership leaders do not always rank first in commercial rankings because the metric effectively weighs audience purchasing power in addition to scale.
