S1mple's LAN debut after inactive drew 164,000 viewers

A simultaneous peak of 164,000 viewers tuned in to watch the ESL Challenger Katowice 2024 during the debut match of Alexander "s1mple" Kostyliev under the Falcons tag at a LAN event. The statistics were shared by the analytics service Esports Charts on X.

Falcons played their first match in the tournament against SAW, which concluded with a score of 13:11 (on the Ancient map) in favour of the Portuguese team. 

Notably, s1mple's first match after a long period of inactivity attracted even more viewers, with 247,000 watching his debut under the Falcons flag at the Thunderpick World Championship 2024. The team ultimately lost two consecutive matches at that tournament and finished in last place.

The ESL Challenger Katowice 2024 took place from October 25 to 27 in Katowice, Poland (at the ESL studio). The total prize pool for the event is $100,000, which will be distributed among eight teams.