LoL: Worlds 2024 is the most valuable tournament of the history

League of Legends remains one of the most influential titles in the global esports scene — a true success story with both fans and sponsors. The scale of its impact was clear in 2024, when the Worlds Championship — the biggest event in Riot Games’ MOBA competitive circuit — broke the record for the highest Media Value ever achieved by an esports tournament.

While Media Value isn’t always the first metric considered when measuring a tournament’s popularity, it plays a key role in shaping the industry. It reflects how valuable a competition is based on the estimated worth of its advertising exposure throughout the event.

With nearly double the value recorded by The International 10 in 2021, Worlds 2024 proved that Riot Games remains committed to sustained growth — a strategy that has defined it's more than decade-long presence in the market. Alongside League of Legends and Dota 2, tournaments from three major FPS titles also round out the list of the five highest Media Values in esports history.

First, let’s define Media Value more precisely. In practical terms, this metric is calculated by estimating the cost of a banner that occupies 1% of the broadcast screen throughout the entire stream.

Several factors are taken into account to determine these values — such as language and region, each following different CPM (cost per mile) rates. Media Value helps measure how attractive an advertising space is during live broadcasts, ultimately shaping how appealing a tournament becomes to sponsors and how successful a game’s esports ecosystem can be.

With that in mind, it’s easier to understand how Worlds 2024 became a historic milestone for esports. Surpassing Dota 2’s The International 10 (2021), the 14th edition of the League of Legends Worlds Championship reached a Media Value of nearly $ 80 million, while the runner-up recorded around $ 48 million — almost 40% less.

Data from Esports Charts also highlight the remaining three tournaments that complete the Top 5. In third place is the FACEIT Major London 2018, which also stands as the Counter-Strike Major with the longest broadcast time, totaling 150 hours. Fourth place goes to VALORANT Champions 2022, where the Brazilian organization LOUD claimed the championship title. Finally, the Overwatch League 2019 – Season 1 finishes the list, with a Media Value of nearly $ 17 million.

It’s important to note that several factors contributed to the massive Media Value achieved by Worlds 2024. First and foremost, the tournament reached the highest peak viewership in esports history, with 6.85 million concurrent viewers during the grand final. It also broke additional records, becoming the most-watched event in total hours viewed.

Expectations are now high for Worlds 2025, which could surpass these numbers and showcase how Riot Games’ continued growth may help push esports back to its peak.