BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 Becomes Most-Watched CS Tournament Ever

• The BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 became the most-watched Counter-Strike event ever, with 76.1M total hours watched.

• It broke the previous record of 71.2M hours set by PGL Major Stockholm 2021.

• Running from June 3rd to 22nd in Texas, it was the first CS Major to surpass 75M hours viewed.

The BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 Counter-Strike tournament has become the most-watched esports event in the game's 26-year history, drawing 76.1 million total hours watched and breaking a four-year-old record, according to viewership tracking service Esports Charts.

The milestone was achieved during the championship finals between Team Vitality and The MongolZ on Sunday, surpassing the previous record of 71.2 million total hours watched set by the PGL Major Stockholm in 2021. The tournament, which ran from June 3-22 in Texas, marked the first time a Counter-Strike Major event broke the 75 million hour threshold.

"The record was broken just seconds before the championship match began," according to Esports Charts data, highlighting the sustained audience engagement throughout the three-week tournament period.

The Austin Major also established itself as the most-watched Counter-Strike tournament ever held in North America, reaching a peak concurrent viewership of 1.7 million during the grand final. While this peak fell short of the all-time record of 2.7 million set by PGL Major Stockholm, it represents the fourth-highest peak viewership in Counter-Strike history.

Counter-Strike, originally launched in 1999 and currently in its Counter-Strike 2 iteration, remains one of the most popular competitive gaming titles globally. The first-person shooter has consistently set viewership benchmarks in the esports industry, with Major tournaments serving as the sport's premier competitions.

For tournament organizer BLAST, the Austin event represents its most successful production to date and the second tournament this year to exceed one million peak viewers. The company's BLAST Rivals Spring 2025 event previously recorded 1.03 million peak viewers when Team Vitality defeated Team Falcons.

The tournament's opening playoff day alone drew 1.4 million concurrent viewers during the match between Team Spirit and MOUZ, according to Esports Charts. This figure represents the highest viewership ever recorded for a Counter-Strike event held in the United States.

Industry publication Esports Insider noted that the Austin Major featured extended match schedules and increased airtime compared to previous Counter-Strike events, potentially contributing to the record-breaking total viewing hours.

The achievement places Austin Major ahead of other highly-watched Counter-Strike tournaments, including IEM Rio Major 2022 (69.5 million hours), PGL Major Antwerp 2022 (68 million hours), and FACEIT Major London 2018 (61 million hours).