Benzinga | Sep 17, 2020 08:12AM EDT

Allied Esports Says VIE.gg CS:GO Legend Series Had 1.7M Unique Viewers

Most-Watched Legend Series Event in Allied Esports History Drives 400% Increase in New Users and 300% Increase in Deposits on VIE.gg Platform

VIE.gg CS:GO Legend Series and Allied Esports Odyssey Tournaments Combine to Drive Record Viewership and Follower Growth Over Five-Week Period

Allied Esports, a global esports entertainment company and a subsidiary of Allied Esports Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AESE), drew 1.7 million unique viewers for the VIE.gg CS:GO Legend Series tournament, which ended Sunday, September 13. The two-week competition, which also generated over 1 million hours watched and reached 98,000 peak viewers, is the company's most-watched Legend Series event since the tournament series was created in 2017.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200917005328/en/

The professional Counter-Strike tournament, which was produced from Allied Esports' HyperX Esports Studio in Hamburg, Germany, was a global event reaching esports audiences across multiple continents and languages. Allied Esports worked with various partners to broadcast the tournament on Twitch in six languages -- English, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, French and German -- and on Chinese streaming platform HUYA, which carried both English and Chinese streams.

The tournament capped a historic five-week period for Allied Esports' online tournament streams. The VIE.gg CS:GO Legend Series and the Allied Esports Odyssey, an official tournament in Riot Games' VALORANT Ignition Series that ran August 11-16, combined for 4 million unique viewers and 2 million hours watched. The two tournaments also generated a total of 37,000 new followers across Allied Esports' Twitch channels, an increase of 68% since August 10, to raise the combined total of followers to 91,044. Allied Esports' social platforms, including Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, generated a net audience increase of 4,900% and engagement increase of 486% compared to the previous five-week period.

"The VIE.gg CS:GO Legend Series is a great example of the ability of our tournaments to deliver dedicated content to an enthusiastic, engaged audience, and we will continue to develop these brands to meet the needs of partners as the esports industry continues to evolve," said Frank Ng, CEO of Allied Esports Entertainment. "This tournament was an excellent start to our partnership with Esports Entertainment Group, as we introduced their wagering platform to millions of people around the world, and we look forward to creating more valuable content with them in the near future."

The VIE.gg CS:GO Legend Series tournament was Allied Esports' first Legend Series event to include a licensing partner and title sponsor through its partnership with Esports Entertainment Group. As a result, Esports Entertainment Group saw a 400% increase in new users and a 300% increase in deposits on the VIE.gg platform compared to the same period in the prior month.

Each broadcast during the VIE.gg CS:GO Legend Series tournament prominently featured a wagering component, including dynamic live odds that were on display for the entirety of each match.

"We are absolutely thrilled with the viewership numbers for the VIE.gg CS:GO Legend Series, a new benchmark for Allied Esports and a great introduction of our VIE.gg brand to fans around the world," commented Grant Johnson, CEO of Esports Entertainment Group. "Working with the team at Allied Esports on this tournament has been a great experience, and we're already in discussions for the next event."

The online event was also the first esports tournament registered for legal betting in the state of New Jersey, an announcement that was made by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) and the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) on September 2.

The VIE.gg CS:GO Legend Series featured 16 Counter-Strike teams from multiple European countries, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region and South America, including seven teams ranked in the top 50 globally. Kazakhstan's Winstrike, which jumped from No. 60 in the world at the start of the tournament to No. 34, defeated 32nd-ranked Heretics from France 3-0 in the best-of-five Grand Final to secure the first VIE.gg CS:GO Legend Series title and (euro)17,000 of the (euro)50,000 total prize pool. Every game from the two-week tournament can be watched in full at youtube.com/alliedesports.

Allied Esports' original Legend Series tournament brand was designed to expand the competitive ecosystem and total prize pool for teams ranked outside of the first tier. The VIE.gg CS:GO Legend Series was Allied Esports' seventh edition of the CS:GO Legend Series and the 13th Legend Series event overall, with previous versions of the series featuring VALORANT, League of Legends, Call of Duty, Overwatch and FIFA.