Even though the Mid-Season Invitational is less than three weeks away, teams across the world are busy with their spring splits. Some leagues have crowned their champions while others are still finalizing their seeds, with four teams still to be confirmed.

This past week, Top Esports has booked its place, leaving BiliBili Gaming, Anyone’s Legend, and Team WE fighting for the second spot. G2 Esports came out on top again, beating Karmine Corp in the LEC Versus final rematch. FURIA has proven that Brazil can fight with its own talent.

In North America, LYON dominated Cloud9, with big question marks regarding its true potential. Dplus Kia’s elimination raises many questions, both inside and outside the Rift.

Here are some of the most interesting storylines leading up to MSI

At the start of the split, no one thought Team WE would end up fighting for a spot at MSI, yet the team made the unthinkable reality. Unfortunately, that hope is getting dimmer now after the loss against Top Esports, who have once again locked an international appearance.

TES’ 3-0 win not only ended WE’s momentum but also exposed WE’s weaknesses. The latter had shown their ability to drag their opponents into their comfort zone, which relied on chaotic skirmishes.

Top Esports understood that and did the exact opposite, using their strong fundamentals to fight on their own terms, with jungler Gao “Tian” Tian-Liang dictating the tempo of the game.

With the loss, the scenarios for Team WE are getting complicated. BiliBili Gaming has seemingly recovered from the upset and is looking dominant, with all their players in great form, especially support Luo “ON” Wen-Jun.

“There’s not a player in the world that plays like ON right now, truly fearless in the way he approaches every play – and BLG are better for it,” said color caster Alex “Nymaera” Hapgood. A potential rematch is expected to be in BLG’s favor, unless Monki pulls off another miracle.

G2 Esports winning Europe is almost routine at this point. The 3-2 win over Karmine Corp gave the organization its 19th LEC title and will send G2 directly to MSI’s Bracket Stage. KC, after coming close to the title, will start from Play-Ins.

While it wasn’t a clean stomp, G2’s wins were spearheaded by a monstrous Rudy “SkewMond” Semaan, who went deathless in the team’s three wins. The jungler, who rightfully earned the MVP award, even pulled out a Nasus jungle, “bonking” his enemies.

His performances and importance within the team bring up the question that is starting to follow him: Is SkewMond the best European player to emerge since Caps?

Even though the claim is still a bit too early, he’s on course to be that guy. The level of dominance ever since his debut last year, paired with G2’s recent strong international record, is elevating him to that status. He will need a bit more time to build his résumé, but the trend suggests that everything is lining up well for the French player.

For EU fans, G2 and KC were the best teams to send based on what they’ve shown in Spring. The French squad will be one to watch, especially given that they will have to face the LCK #2 seed to enter the top eight. While it could be a short run, it will definitely be a valuable one, especially considering KC is expected to be among the EU representatives for Worlds 2026.

Dplus Kia is not going to MSI. Their run ended after the loss against KT Rolster in the worst way possible. Despite leading in both Game 4 and Game 5, the team dropped both games in heated teamfights. 

Aside from the gameplay, however, a lot of DK’s attention has been outside of the game. At the end of the series, head coach Kim “cvMax” Dae-ho was once again caught in the eyestorm after making inappropriate comments during the post-match interview, prompting the organization to enforce higher standards for media communication.

This is just the latest controversy around DK’s head coach, following earlier criticism of his harsh coaching style. While the potential is there, as clearly shown by the team throughout the first part of the LCK season, DK needs to create a healthier environment, far away from the drama.

While missing MSI is understandable given the presence of powerhouses like T1, Hanwha Life Esports, and Gen.G, Dplus Kia will need to get into the top four if they want a shot at Worlds.

Cloud9’s 0-3 loss to LYON in the LCS Spring Playoffs is giving fans deja vu from last year, when the team failed to qualify for the Mid-Season Invitational. It’s not just about the loss: the team looked lost compared to LYON, unable to match its teamfights. 

A Reddit user explained C9’s form perfectly: “They used to be the underdogs, the cluch team that could punch above their weight… Now they’re the regular season leaders who anti-clutch and find new and innovative ways to choke every time it matters.” 

C9 has shown repeatedly to have consistency throughout the regular season but fails to level up its gameplay when it matters the most. The sweep will inevitably put a lot of pressure on C9, who will now face Team Liquid for the second MSI spot. 

Mid laner Lim “Quid” Hyeon-seung has stepped up lately, taking up more of a carry role within the team, similar to how it was when he played for 100Thieves last year. The mid-jungle will likely be the key to the match.

FURIA earned back-to-back appearances at MSI following a strong showing throughout the second split. 

The victory, however, seems to have also changed the perspective on CBLOL teams’ roster building. The fact that FURIA won with a full Brazilian team proved that Brazil can rely on its own talents to win domestically and earn the international qualification.

This seems to be leading many organizations to follow a similar path, with many teams looking to change their import players. 

LOUD is reportedly looking to change both jungler Ko “YoungJae” Yeong-jae and ADC Song “Bull” Seon-gyu with Brazilian players Enzo “Sinatra” Candido Ferreira and Yudi Leonardo “NinjaKiwi” Miyashiro. V

ivo Keyd Stars will not only have a new head coach in Ludvig Erik Hugo “Smiley” Granquist but also see the departure of Korean top laner Choi “Wizer” Eui-seok and support Ling “Kaiwing” Kai Wing, who was supposed to elevate VKS to new heights. 

Brazil is moving towards more domestic talents again: “Invest in LATAM,” said a user on Reddit. “Stop looking at Korea when there’s proof local talent can go toe to toe with NA at least.”

While imports can quickly raise a team’s ceiling through strong fundamentals, Brazil’s greatest runs were built on the synergy of local talent, with unexpected playstyles and strategies. 

Last year, FURIA came close to upsetting G2 Esports in the play-in stage. With them now directly to the bracket stage, the Brazilian team will have the golden opportunity to showcase CBLOL’s potential to the world.

From multi-million-dollar deals and record-high transfers for League superstars just six years ago, to minimum-wage contracts and players “buying” their own transfer fees out, the Call of Duty League’s economic landscape has crashed and burned.

Call of Duty esports has always had a complicated relationship with Benjamin Franklin. The $100 bills flow like there’s no tomorrow when it comes to the annual releases, making the core game the fourth-highest-selling franchise of all time, but in an esports sense, it’s a different game.

While many competitor titles are built with a competitive mindset, such as VALORANT and Counter-Strike, the large majority of Call of Duty’s community are far from esports enthusiasts. It’s the one war that the franchise has never won, and its $69 billion owners have become satisfied with leaving the professional scene to an afterthought.

Yet, the Call of Duty esports scene has been the leading hub of console gaming for over 15 years, growing from the double-desked pool play pits to sold-out 30,000-seat arenas. With that, wages, buyouts, and prize pools have fluctuated more than the Modern Warfare-Black Ops tug of war.

Recent ebbs and flows on the Call of Duty League stock exchange have hit an all-time low, though, with a chasm of quality opening up, polarising tactics, and putting the player pipeline off making the jump to the professional league.

For the last three seasons, especially, almost every team in the league has suffered from a lack of funding, scaling back the caliber of players they can attract due to budget wages and limited support. It’s the reason so many teams have sold their spots and why others have merged to join forces with bigger sharks in the industry, like Miami Heretics, G2 Minnesota, and Toronto KOI.

Arguably, the biggest change in philosophies is Cloud9 New York. Typically, the old Subliners’ ownership operated with a sensible freedom in their operations. Like everyone, they went big on star talent with a team blessed by Dylan “Attach” Price and Thomas “ZooMaa” Paparatto from the get go, and invested smartly over the years in spearheading legends like James “Clayster” Eubanks and rising phenoms like Paco “HyDra” Rusiewiez; the latter of whom was offered a reported $1.5 million three-year deal to stay with the org, back in 2022. 

This seems like a distant memory, though, as just two years after winning their World Championship, Subliners sold their spot to Cloud9. 

Cloud9 decided to operate in a completely different manner. At the start of the 2025/26 season, Cloud9 announced that it’s changing its structure and picking up a full Tier 2 team, hoping to grow throughout the year and become a long-term investment. 

On shoestring budgets, helped by the removal of the CDL’s minimum requirement of a $55,000 annual salary in favor of state-mandated wage requirements ($33,300 in New York), Cloud9 reportedly told players that they will be heavily compensated on winnings and bundle sales, rather than a base wage – the waitresses of Call of Duty esports.

CEO Jack Etienne told Breaking Point: “Our thinking is focused on putting players in a better position while they are with us regarding MTX sales and prize earnings. Players and coaches will earn 100%.

“I don’t want to lose money for my investors, but I also want my players to earn. The key behind this will be to incentivize players to drive the most skin sales.”

It’s a system that they no doubt deploy in VALORANT to some extent, having signed the skin salesman himself in Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro.

Unfortunately for the roster, they’ve failed to earn a penny in winnings, with an insurmountable gulf in class between them and the next caliber of teams.

This approach was capped off last week, when the team decided to pick up a new Tier 2 rookie, Jason “Wevy” Medina, who was contracted to Telluride Bush. The Barstool tangent revealed that Cloud9 refused to pay $10,000 for Wevy’s buyout but would agree to a $2,000 fee. However, this was soon found to have been money pulled from Wevy’s inevitable Esports World Cup earnings, as he would be the only one on his team not to keep the full amount.

From offering $1.5 to the CDL’s best player to refusing to pay $2,000 on a Challengers up-and-comer, Cloud9 is the biggest indictment of how the CDL economics have fallen beyond repair.

But it’s not just Cloud9.

Toronto KOI is one of the most prestigious orgs in the CDL, having won multiple events throughout its tenure, similarly to Subliners/Cloud9, and it too has fallen into the checkbook shenanigans.

Earlier this week, Toronto Ultra – despite pushing for an outside chance at a World Championship upset – sold their best player, Joseph “JoeDeceives” Romero, to Paris Gentle Mates for a reported $125,000.

The buyout continued the precedent that the OverActive Media and KOI joint ownership group simply cannot afford to keep their top talent when the biggest fish come calling.

It wouldn’t be the first time, as Toronto let Thomas “Scrap” Ernst leave for LA Thieves, who now serves as one of the top three assault rifle players in the League. His skill was evident since being on Toronto, but money talked and the organization listened.

It’s a clear consequence, even a motivation not to do well, as the org recoups money in transfers rather than take the gamble on better results.

Following the departure of JoeDeceives, OverActive Media CEO Adam Adamou said: “The offer was one neither the org nor Joe was going to turn down. It was a good deal for the club and the right move for him, and those two don’t always line up. 

“Letting him go was on me, and I’d make the same call again. He earned a shot at the bag with how he played and how he carried himself. When a guy gives a team everything Joe gave us, you don’t stand in the way. You do right by him. So that’s exactly what we did.

“This was a hard call, but it’s the one that sets us up to keep delivering for you. We’ll do what we’ve always tried to do best: find talent and grow it. But that’s a conversation for another day.”

From Adamou himself, the need for futureproofing the team outweighed the financial risk to push for a World Championship.

Of course, revenue is hard to come by, and although Cloud9 and Toronto KOI are out there baiting their lives for the rest to benefit from, it shouldn’t be an indictment on them for choosing how to survive, but rather the League as its own entity.

It wasn’t always like this.

The birth of the franchised CDL system during the pandemic boom saw investors pour endless financial support into teams entering the elite league of arguably the most popular game of its time. From mainstream sports titans like the Kroenke Entertainment Group (Los Angeles Rams) and Sterling VC (New York Mets) to established esports giants partnering with huge sponsors, money wasn’t short in the early League days.

Now, that same system is hindering the esport. The locked licenses in the 12-team CDL are strangling the life out of the organizations, for very little gain back, and even dissuading more investing orgs from joining.

Earlier this year, SpaceStation Gaming CEO Shawn “Unit” Pellerin revealed that he tried to enter the scene, but the financial burden of the license was so heavy that it was almost impossible to justify.

“What we found after deep diving into the economics is that the license, which would be ‘transferred’ at a cost, was more of a liability than an asset,” he said. “The real value is the brands attached to the license, making it hard to justify a heavy cost to obtain it. 

“The cost to operate vs revenue potential would also make it impossible to be competitive in the current ecosystem.

“The other issue entering as a new organization was the lack of available talent to build around. Challengers does its job cycling new talent to the CDL teams but lacks purpose for a Challengers teams to improve with limited opportunities to compete against the best.”

What’s clear is that the Call of Duty League needs to revise its structure. A less-gatekept partnership system, similar to Rocket League’s, could work, allowing the most devoted orgs to reap the rewards of skins while opening the bracket to more competition and an entry point for new teams.

However, it’s about time that the League and its teams realize that the 2019 goldmine is no longer there. Sponsors are harder to come by, content is harder to profit from now that Warzone has plummeted, and direct capital investment carries a huge risk.

Of course, you can win, as Gentle Mates has proven, but there can only be a handful of these success stories, and there needs to be a lower running cost and greater emphasis on visibility.

The Call of Duty League never lacks for action, but there’s a real disconnect that is hurting everyone’s pockets.

There’s no simpler rivalry than a regional one, but after a decade of back-and-forth between North America and Europe – in particular, France – the RLCS Paris Major cemented that Rocket League came home.

Born out of a tiny studio in the US that was workshopping some extra mini games to port into Gears of War, Rocket League was born and raised in Satellite Beach, Florida. 

The deep roots of the ‘Soccar’ game as we know it were all American, from the game’s DNA to the first-ever RLCS World Championships in Los Angeles and the current World Champions, the high-octane game is the Texas Barbecue of American esports.

Or is it?

For nearly a decade, the grasp that the US had over the RLCS has been slipping, and off the back of two dynasties and the current creme de la creme of competitors, France has pulled the Uno reverse card out from the Statue of Liberty, and has stolen Rocket League from under Big Sam’s nose.

As expected, the US dominated Rocket League when it first came out, with the first RLCS World Championships going to the home teams in Los Angeles. But that prose was soon challenged by Europe, which had found a love for the game as it had for most esports, and the fabled, intertwined golden trophy began to be passed around from country to country.

That was, until Alexandre “Kaydop” Courant arrived. Known now as the Maradona or Babe Ruth of Soccar, Kaydop launched a dynasty that would span four years of dominance and six consecutive World Championship Grand Finals appearances, winning three and only having a fourth denied by the global pandemic. 

Fortunately for the US, the last Worlds before the lockdown was snatched from Kaydop’s hand by former teammate Pierre “Turbopolsa” Silfver, who had ported to America to bring the trophy back. 

But Kaydop’s brilliance brought a wave of aspiring young Frenchmen through to the RLCS, and backed by new communities and local tournament organisers (such as Rocket Baguette), the region was soon left waiting for the shackles of the pandemic to be lifted so that it could get back to the international stage. Although the legend himself had now passed the baton to Evan “M0nkey M00n” Rogez.

From there, the dubbed “Open Era” icon carried the French flame into battle against the US time after time again, and often came out on top. The inter-regional rivalry was alive and kicking, and France was on top more often than not. 

For years, North American Rocket League has faced one major issue. In Lehmann’s terms, the country is huge, and uprooting young teenagers, often school-age, to relocate them across the country to boot camps is almost impossible.

It’s a question I posed to Joseph “Noly” Kidd and Jack “ApparentlyJack” Benton three years ago, when the two British stars took the export route to play together in the States for Gen.G and won multiple titles and a Major. 

Back then, the only real competitive roster was G2 Esports, with Landon “BeastMode” Konerman, Daniel “Daniel” Piecenski, and Massimo “Atomic” Franceschi.

Fast forward to 2026, and the reigning World Champions are the exact same roster, albeit now operating under the NRG banner. Consistency combined with quality. Yet that’s almost impossible to replicate.

Noly claimed that for European players, it’s easy to move to a team facility, only a few hours away from home. Using NRG as an example, BeastMode is from Kentucky, a 32-hour drive, hardly a quick trip around the corner. It’s a complete overhaul of the senses.

Since the RLCS Open Era began, the talent pipeline in the US has been hard-stuck in Diamond. Exciting, young players burst onto the scene and immediately face the dilemma of being uprooted mid-11th Grade or putting Rocket League on the back burner. 

Case in point: 16-year-old Zachary “zach” Stone, formerly “Scrzbbles.” Having been slated as the next RLCS prodigy, he ‘retired’ from the game at the end of the 2025 season (then 15), citing schoolwork as the reason. He has since returned to the SpaceStation Gaming camp, but the summer off may have prevented him from becoming the centrepiece of an elite roster.

Across the pond, Team Vitality faced a similar prospect with destiny himself, Alexis “Zen” Bernier, which proved the difference. Having scouted him from the age of 13, Zen was brought into the team before he became eligible to play, with the promise that he had to finish school while under their contract. 

After agreeing and becoming of age, Zen went on to debut with back-to-back-to-back Regional wins, a Major win, and a World Championship. Nothing but success – but whose to say that if he faced a 32-hour commute across the US, Zen would have taken that leap of faith.

It’s a demographic issue that is not familiar with pillarstone American esports, such as Counter-Strike, but it has posed a threat to the home nation of Rocket League for the best part of five years, and it’s no surprise that France has taken the chance to usurp them with both hands.

There’s no easy fix for North America either. They are doomed. 

The Rocket League player base continues to be younger than any other esport, with the game’s entire simplistic nature lending itself to adolescent audiences. There have only been sporadic rising stars who have taken a wild plunge, but the geographical nature means teams simply can’t be formed, and its time NA accepts that they are no longer a force, but rather a pool of talent spread so wide that it’s impossible to be competitive on an international level.

Maybe the only real answer lies in a Collegiate-like circuit, bringing together local high-school stars, but that’s a whole new debate. For now, it will take a miracle for another NRG to be formed, and the entirety of NA’s success rides on their shoulders until the retirement home comes calling.

As to who can stop France, well, the American stalwarts of NRG stand the best chance, while the new pipeline from the Middle East has quickly challenged the status quo. What’s evident, though, is that Rocket League’s predominantly teenage breakthrough talent need to be harnessed in the right environment, surrounded by guidance, and close-knit countries like Saudi Arabia, the UK, and Spain.

The future of Rocket League is blue, white, and red, but with no stars.

There’s no place like home, right? Well, the RLCS Paris Major proved as much, as Rocket League saw a record crowd pack itself inside the La Defense Arena and be treated to a spectacle of homegrown talent. With three powerhouse teams in Vitality, Gentle Mates, and Karmine Corp all featuring, the crowd antics were festival-like. 

Cult followings celebrated Rocket League together with pyro, tifos, flags, and chants as if it were the national soccer team, and they were far from disappointed. If we had any doubts about France’s quality, they were short-lived, as five of the top six teams had French-speaking players or represented a French outfit, including all three finalists.

Dominance.

This was all epitomized by Epic Games’ recognition that Rocket League was home, using the Paris Major to announce its unprecedented first look at Unreal Engine 6. It could have aired in Boston. It could have aired at Worlds in Fort Worth. It could have even snubbed Rocket League altogether and been shown at Fortnite’s upcoming LAN in Germany.

But Epic knew its community and rewarded years of patience and passion with an insight into the future.

The Paris Major was the Coachella of Rocket League. While heavily-co-streamer-influenced viewership stats dipped slightly (still reaching the second-most-watched RLCS event of all time), it was a homecoming bonanza, and deservedly so. It launched off the back of greatness, built roots that secured its own future and prodigies, and provided us with the best fans a game could ask for.

Rocket League est à la maison.

Esports used to have this kind of magical, exciting feeling I couldn’t quite place. It felt like we were part of this crazy new thing that was not quite sure what the hell it was. Stumbling, authentic, raw, confused.

I’ve missed that feeling the past few years and couldn’t place my finger on why. What’s missing? Strangely enough, it may be the industry’s advancements that have caused it to lose what made it special.

I saw a tweet this weekend from Marvel Rivals caster Max “KEG” Tompkins that really brought it all back for me. The seemingly casual tweet felt a bit like one of those “shower thought” moments, but I think it explains what has really gone wrong with esports the past few years.

“People gotta realize that making esports shows perfect, sterile, and soulless does more harm than most mistakes or issues you could cause live on air,” KEG said.

And there it is. For the past few years, esports has been trying to become part of mainstream gaming, using over-the-top production and featuring popular content creators to appeal to more than just hardcore esports fans.

Between Ludwig Ahgren buying Evo passes to boost registration numbers for his own game and the overdramatic broadcast for one of the most serious FGC battles in history, esports is starting to feel very manufactured. The hype feels forced as esports attempts to be larger than it is.

I remember being very involved in esports when the Overwatch League was announced. What drew me into the scene was the passion and realness. Even though Blizzard implemented a franchised circuit (an attempt to increase mass appeal by adding hometown teams), it was evident that nobody really knew what they were doing.

It felt extremely chaotic, with players getting away with goofy walkouts and obscene gestures caught on stream, the broadcast accidentally showing empty seats on stage, casters making dirty jokes on air, and the gameplay itself feeling chaotic as observers failed to show us some of the match’s most important moments.

But it was so fun. We felt like we were in on a massive ongoing meme. Like we were just figuring it out and enjoying esports for what it was: nerds finally getting their moment to shine. It’s weird. I can still go back to old Overwatch League compilations and almost cry. It’s what I thought esports would always be like.

YouTube comments reflect this:

As the Overwatch League hype died down, I got involved in more esports titles. I went to the Call of Duty League Grand Finals in 2022, held in Los Angeles, and it was pretty hype. But it wasn’t the same for me. The guys walked out so seriously, fog rolling by, and the massive stadium with multiple screens just felt less intimate. It didn’t feel like a celebration of nerds. It felt like the CDL was attempting to say: “We aren’t nerds. This is cool. Right???”

And it’s only gotten worse from there. League of Legends broadcasts can apparently cost anywhere from $75,000 to $200,000 a day if we’re talking massive arenas. It’s all very professional, attempting to make esports seem legitimate to non-esports fans.

But I have never understood this desire to appeal to mainstream gamers and sports fans. Why are we operating at the red and experiencing massive financial loss in an attempt to be so big? We were happy when it wasn’t this over-the-top. When it was focused on the fans.

I come from the fighting game community, so maybe I’m a bit gate-keepy. But I’ve seen glimpses of that OG esports magic at FGC events. These tournaments are often the “wild west” of the esports industry, with pros offering money matches with fans in the friendlies area, people making bets during the Top 8, and winners breaking chairs and crying on stage. The broadcasts sorta suck and the venues are just a stage, a screen, and chairs. There’s no dramatic walkouts, no echoing play-by-plays from casters.

But even the FGC is being tainted by Saudi Arabia’s push to make esports bigger than it should be for its own agenda. Inviting content creators (who don’t really grind fighting games) to have showmatches at Evo is not really the end of the world, but it’s not the original spirit of the FGC. It screams desperation for views and validation rather than being for the true fans.

We miss the imperfections, the goofiness, the errors, the authenticity. The dramatic and engineered hype of recent broadcasts doesn’t hit the same. It feels like the esports industry is putting on a show for investors and the mainstream public, who are too busy thinking the Esports World Cup’s move to Paris is interesting. These are not real fans. Why are we catering to them? Why are we performing for them?

I think the esports industry would save a lot of money if it accepted it’s a niche within the gaming community and focused on the true fans. Lose the massive broadcasts and productions. Just have fun with it like we used to. I can’t be alone in missing how it once was.

The viewership numbers from the RLCS 2026 Paris Major were shockingly low. Like, really low. It’s easy to immediately assume that Rocket League is dying, the old esports mantra. But what’s actually going on?

Well, it’s not dying. But the excuses people have for the reduced viewership actually do point to one thing: it’s not popular. And it’s not retaining interest.

The RLCS 2026 Paris Major is still underway, with the best-of-the-best Rocket League teams from around the world gathering in France to shoot balls around while driving cars. There is really no denying that Rocket League is a fun game. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, it’s simple to understand, but the pros have some crazy tricks up their sleeve that raise the hype.

But does it make a good esport?

So far, the most-viewed match from the Paris Major was a Group Stage clash between Team Vitality and Karmine Corp. It reached a peak concurrent viewership of 179,000. It’s not horrible. Again, not dying. But it’s nowhere near the viewership numbers we saw at the RLCS Boston Major a few months ago, which had over 1.6 million hours watched on the opening day compared to Paris’ 800K.

Esports Charts did a deep dive into these numbers and seems to think there is one key difference: Nicholas “Jynxzi” Stewart. The popular gaming streamer was a commuter caster at the Boston Major, bringing the Rocket League esports action to his 10 million-plus followers on Twitch and 6.3 million on YouTube.

Jynxzi was not a co-streamer this time. At least not yet. We will get Corentin “Gotaga” Houssein for Paris, a French creator who is excited to co-stream the event from his home country. This could boost the viewership, sure. But that’s the thing…

The RLCS Paris Major isn’t cooked. No, the RLCS Boston Major was carried. Now that there is no content creator boosting numbers, we can see what the true viewership is for Rocket League’s biggest event of the year.

And it’s safe to say that Boston’s numbers were inflated.

Esports Charts noted that even the RLCS Twitch channel was dramatically lower this year, going from 64,800 at the last major to 26,000 this time. Nobody was drawing people in, enticing them to check it out.

Rocket League is not alone, of course. Most esports rely heavily on content creators to co-stream events to mainstream gaming audiences.

FlyQuest made some cringe video last month that attacked co-streaming, claiming that it was damaging the esports industry. Well, except their own content creators and stuff, of course! But streamers aren’t taking away from the esports industry. There’s nothing to even take. They are adding to it. They are bringing viewers in. Temporary viewers, but viewers just the same. Tournaments have started to rely on this rather than invest in their own broadcasts or create a structure that actually improves permanent fandom growth.

Without co-streaming, most tournaments would see pretty underwhelming viewership. In 2025, co-streaming surpassed official broadcast for esports tournaments in hours watched. Even larger esports like League of Legends rely on co-streaming, which became a huge topic of debate during the Mid-Season Invitational last year. Without popular streamers, the numbers would suffer. (Even with co-streamers, some LoL events, like the LCS, can’t seem to get any attention at all.)

You can say that co-streaming and content creators are saving esports. But I beg to differ. They aren’t harming it or anything. They’re not taking away views. It’s not like those who tune in to these co-streams would watch the legit broadcast on their own without their favorite streamer encouraging them. Be real.

So no, there is no harm done. It just shows how flimsy the esports scene is. It would fly away in the wind if it weren’t for the streamers holding the strings. Esports is just not large enough to support the kind of money that’s put into it. The numbers are all inflated. The hype is displaced.

Without streamers and their fans begrudgingly tuning in, these esports broadcasts would see a shocking dip in viewership. Like the RLCS. The fans don’t stay after. They don’t become die-hard Rocket League fanatics. They are Jynxzi fans. That’s it.

There is a reason that Evo is desperate to add content creator showmatches this year. It needs the numbers. Of course, the FGC does not want it. They’d rather die than try to appeal to mainstream gamers. But other esports titles know that it’s a necessary evil. It’s the only way to pretend esports is growing. That esports has that many die-hard fans.

But the numbers are not real. And there is only so much time that esports can buy until it has to admit that these viewership numbers are not here to stay.