MLG Pro Circuit 2011 most-watched in eSports history

Major League Gaming drew record-breaking audiences during its 2011 Pro Circuit, even out-performing cable TV networks.

Viewers from 175 countries tuned into MLG's streams during the November finals in Providence, Rhode Island, and managed to consume a whopping 3.6 million hours of video between them. Concurrent users peaked at 241,000.

According to Nielsen's network ratings metrics, this puts the web-based MLG ahead of traditional cable TV in the 18-24 year old male demographic.

“Our viewership numbers this year have been staggering and MLG now pulls in larger audiences than several traditional television cable networks,” MLG CEO Sundance DiGiovanni said, hopefully in a purring tone of delight.

“Our live streams of the Pro Circuit National Championships garnered more 18-24 male viewers than Comedy Central, MTV, TBS, and FX draw in an average quarter hour and nearly as many as Adult Swim.”

Over the whole season, the Pro Circuit pulled 3.5 million unique viewers and dished out 15 million hours of video. Traffic to MLG's hub site grew 225% year-on-year and saw 641,000 visitors each weekend.

Offline, 97,000 people turned up to Pro Circuit events in person over the course of the year, including a capacity crowd of 16,000 at the finals.

This is the fifth year in a row the MLG has built on its successes, fronting a record-breaking $1 million prize pool.

Too many numbers? This handy infographic outlines the most pertinent points: