Gaming
Esports
The amazing stats behind Dota 2’s The International
The International is a rollercoaster ride that delivers thrills and spills every year since 2011, but these are the stats that will blow your mind.
The amazing documentary Against All Odds, charting OG’s incredible victory at TI8, is coming first to Red Bull TV. Find out more here.
As the biggest esports tournament in the world, The International has truly brought some incredible sights, sounds and memories to fans of Dota 2 everywhere. Who could forget OG having to beat PSG.LGD at TI8 not once, but twice, because PSG.LGD made it back to the final from the lower bracket. Starting from humble beginnings in 2011, TI is the culmination of so much training and work from a variety of teams that compete in the Majors all year round leading up to it.
In 2019, teams have fought it out all over the globe in a bid to make it to TI9, all to take home the Aegis of Champions trophy, but also for what is already the highest prize pool in the history of not just The International, but esports overall. You might think that’s amazing (and you’d be right), but we’ve got plenty more stats that will absolutely blow you away. Read on...
25,532,177
The amount (in US dollars) of the prize pool at TI8 last year. This was, at the time, the biggest in esports history, but it’s already been eclipsed by this year’s tournament, which is currently (at the time of writing) sitting at over US$31 million.
1,600,000
The base prize pool every year since The International tournament began. While in 2011 and 2012 the tournament prize pool was “just” this 1.6 million, afterwards it slowly rose year on year. The popularity of Dota 2 has just risen and risen, and the crowdfunding method of using the compendium battle pass feature (started in 2013) has meant the prize pool itself has just grown and grown to the astronomical size we now see.
The crowd for TI8, will you be watching TI9 online?
© Valve
491,777,744
The number of hours people spent watching TI8 on all platforms, including Chinese platforms. Excluding those, the total time watched was still an enormous 64,250,660 hours. A mammoth 1,205,979 viewers enjoyed the final between OG and PSG.LGD, which is the equivalent of filling London’s Wembley stadium 13 times over. But it’s safe to say, regardless of region and team, a lot of people enjoyed watching a lot of hours of The International last year.
1
The amount of teams that have competed only once, and won the tournament once. Wings Gaming competed for the first time at TI6 and won the lot, but haven’t been seen since. The Chinese team won a cool US$9,736,441, being formed in 2014, disbanding in 2017 with all the players going their separate ways, with one (bLink) even retiring from the sport.
A wide shot of Rogers Arena, Vancouver, for TI8
© Valve
13.2
The amount in millions of US dollars that the top earning team from The International has won. Team Liquid currently sit atop the pile in terms of top earners, but due to the ever increasing prize pool, one victory can change everything. With OG’s win at TI8, they jumped from outside the top ten into third place on US$12.1 million earned. Only US$0.8 million keeps them from second place, currently held by Evil Geniuses, on US$12.9 million.
106,518,523
The incredible amount in US dollars that has been paid out for winners of the tournament to date. Not including the over US$30m prize pool for TI9, Dota 2’s The International has consistently been one of the biggest competitions anywhere, esports, or otherwise.
The final face off for TI8: OG vs. PSG.LGD
© Valve
11,234,158
The amount that OG, the TI8 winner has earned to date in all TI comps. Being the team’s first win, ana, Topson, N0tail, JerAx and 7ckngMad will have all basically become millionaires, but not overnight: years of dedication to their field have earned them the right to go again this year, to become the highest earning team in history. Not bad for a team that ranges in age from 19 to 27. Given that England’s winning cricket team in 2019 took home US$4,000,000 for winning the World Cup, which had a prize pool of US$10,000,000, it shows just how big Dota and TI are.
0
The number of teams who have ever won TI twice. Despite winning the very first tournament in 2011, Na’Vi managed second at TI2 and TI3, before slowly dropping to 7th at TI4, and 13th and both TI5 and TI6. After that, the team didn’t appear at The International. Newbee also managed a first place, but could only make it to 2nd a few years later. Can OG break the habit and become the first team to not only take home the Aegis twice, but also for the second year running? We’ll find out at TI9 pretty soon...
