OWCS Dallas Major: A Promising Sign for Overwatch Esports as Viewership Soars

The debut Major of the Overwatch Championship Series has garnered greater viewership than the OWL Midseason tournament of 2023, indicating a promising beginning for the revamped esport league.

With the downfall of the Overwatch League came the introduction of OWCS, a revamp of the game’s esports landscape that replaced the previous closed league format with an open circuit, marking the beginning of an uncertain new era.

After some time, OWCS successfully hosted its inaugural international LAN event, the Dallas Major. Despite facing significant technical difficulties that led to a four-hour delay, the event was deemed a triumph in its debut appearance. The live announcement of SF Shock’s unexpected return to the scene and the continued dominance of Crazy Raccoon and Korea were some of the highlights of the event.

Additionally, the OWCS has shown significant potential for the future, with higher viewership numbers than OWL’s previous midseason tournament.

OWCS Dallas major viewership stats — Esports Charts

OWCS Dallas Major viewership in comparison to OWL’s Midseason Madness

According to Esports Charts, the OWCS Dallas Major had a peak viewership of 125,146 during the Toronto Defiant vs Crazy Raccoon match. This is in comparison to the 2023 OWL Midseason Madness, which peaked at 84,923 viewers during its Grand Finals.

In addition, Midseason Madness saw a significant rise in hours watched, nearly doubling OWL’s numbers to 2.66 million from 1.35 million. This was accompanied by a substantial increase of 97,363 average viewers.

Despite not surpassing the highest-viewed events of Overwatch, such as the inaugural season of OWL and Overwatch World Cup, OWCS is on track to exceed the viewership of 2023’s OWL Playoffs.

During OWL’s 2023 playoffs, there was a peak of 157,689 viewers, showing that OWCS is not too far behind the final season of Overwatch League in terms of viewership.

According to Esport Charts, viewership from Japan was among the highest, second only to the English broadcast. This can be attributed to the OWCS’ open circuit format, which has led to a consistent increase in numbers from the region. This format provides Japanese teams with the opportunity to compete on the big stages.

Despite not being groundbreaking for the rebooting scene, the numbers demonstrate promise for a league that is just starting out.