ESL One Raleigh 2025 Hits 300K+ Viewers in Major Dota 2 North America Revival

After years away from the North American spotlight, Dota 2 made a thunderous comeback with ESL One Raleigh 2025 – and fans showed up in force. The tournament kicked off on April 7 and quickly became the most-watched non-Valve Dota 2 event ever held on U.S. soil, proving that there’s still a huge appetite for high-level competition in the region.

By the end of the event, peak viewership soared past 319,000 during the semifinal between Tundra Esports and PARIVISION, which ended up being the most popular match of the entire tournament – even surpassing the grand final where PARIVISION faced Team Spirit.

Global Co-Streaming Drives Massive Reach

One of the biggest factors behind ESL One Raleigh’s success? Community co-streaming. Dota 2 creators from around the world – streaming in Russian, English, Spanish, and more – helped bring the event to a massive international audience. In fact, nearly 43% of the tournament’s 9 million total hours watched came from co-streams alone.

Russian-speaking viewers led the charge, supported by several top-tier streamers. One standout even pulled in over 50,000 concurrent viewers, contributing heavily to the event’s record-breaking numbers.

A Promising Start to 2025 for Dota 2 Esports

Among 2025’s early Dota 2 events, ESL One Raleigh has emerged as one of the most-watched so far, second only to the legendary DreamLeague series. Its performance signals a strong resurgence of Dota 2 in North America and highlights just how global the game’s fanbase has become.

This event also serves as a lead-in to DreamLeague Season 26, set to kick off on May 19 with another $1 million prize pool on the line. With top teams in attendance and momentum from Raleigh still fresh, there’s a good chance it could become the most-watched Dota 2 event of the first half of 2025.