The Valorant Champions Tour is in full swing as Masters tournaments across the regions go into their final days. While the North American tournament has caught eyes for its viewership numbers, Turkey may not be far behind. The VCT Turkey Masters stream hit a peak viewership of 127,610 on March 18 according to Esports Charts.
This came in stark contrast to the European Masters stream that only pulled 40,000 viewers around the same time. Both the European and Turkish regions do have a disadvantage with their viewership metrics. North America receives many of its views thanks to popular co-streamers like Michael “shroud” Grzesiek and Imane “Pokimane” Anys, along with the main broadcast. Regions that are apart of the European Union and Britain do not have that option, as co-streaming is illegal due to different copyright rules for the different countries involved.
Turkey viewership explained
Turkey as a region in the VCT is considered pretty strong overall. Teams like Futbolist, BBL Esports and Oxygen Esports are all ranked in the top 20 for the European region according to vlr.gg. It just so happens that all three teams played the day of the massive viewership spike.
Oxygen Esports took on Ä°stanbul Wildcats in the upper bracket of group A and secured a spot in the Masters playoffs. Then, viewership took off as Futbolist and BBL Esports went head-to-head in group B. Futbolist eventually took the series 2-0 after both games went down to the wire.
In map one on Ascent, Futbolist took the map 13-11 as its opponent failed to force overtime. Then in map two on Haven, Futbolist were the ones that had to force overtime after a second-half surge from BBL Esports. But, BBL Esports were knocked into the lower bracket as their opponents took the map 17-15.
With the combination of hype around the Turkish VCT scene, and a tight series between the top teams, the Stage 1 Turkey Masters tournament towered over the viewership of its European rivals.
