IEM Krakow breaks viewership records
The inagural IEM Krakow event became the most-watched non-Major Counter-Strike event.
IEM Krakow concluded this weekend with Vitality breaking Astralis' Big Event trophy-winning record, a fitting finale to the first edition of the tournament since it was moved from Katowice.
Not only did Vitality break a notable record, but so did IEM Krakow itself, becoming the most-watched non-Major in Counter-Strike history.
IEM Krakow, according to data from Esports Charts, racked up 40,215,587 hours watched, the most of any non-Major, and 1,387,966 peak viewers, again the best of any non-Major event. These statistics put IEM Krakow 13th and 8th all-time for hours watched and peak viewers respectively.
For context, the best CS event for hours watched was BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025, which clocked in at 76,130,773 hours watched, and for peak viewers it was PGL Major Stockholm 2021, which boasted 2,748,434 viewers. Both of those events recorded significantly longer airtimes of over 120 hours each, compared to IEM Krakow's relatively modest 86 hours.
The statistics represent a continued streak of success for the IEM winter event, as IEM Katowice 2025 previously sported the best peak viewership of non-Majors with 1,299,747 viewers.
