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VALORANT vs. MLBB: Which game dominates women’s esports?
Women’s esports has two clear centers of gravity.
VALORANT has spent five years building Game Changers into a global circuit with regional competitions, open qualifiers, and an annual world championship. Meanwhile, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) has taken a different route, leveraging its massive Southeast Asian audience to host some of women’s esports’ biggest events.
Together, the two games accounted for over 90% of female esports watch time in 2024. While that dominance became less concentrated in 2025 as other titles gained ground, VALORANT still finished the year as the most-watched women’s esports title by total watch time, with MLBB close behind.
That shared dominance, however, looks very different depending on what is being measured.
Which game has the largest women’s esports audience?
If we look purely at peak concurrent viewers, MLBB has established a sizable lead.
Eight of the ten (80%) biggest VALORANT and MLBB women’s events belong to MLBB, including each of the top four. It also holds the all-time viewership record and the highest recent peak for a flagship tournament.
| # | Tournament | Game | Peak Viewership | Hours Watched | Avg. Viewers | Airtime |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 32nd SEA Games – Women’s Tournament | MLBB | 1,367,274 | 6.36M | ~305K | 20h 50m |
| 2 | MLBB Women’s International 2026 | MLBB | 565,483 | 5.07M | ~129.5K | 39h 10m |
| 3 | MLBB Women’s Invitational 2025 | MLBB | 496,995 | 3.78M | ~110.6K | 34h 10m |
| 4 | 33rd SEA Games – Women’s Tournament | MLBB | 469,480 | 3.00M | ~120.6K | 24h 50m |
| 5 | VCT Game Changers Championship 2024 | VALORANT | 464,695 | 6.35M | ~124.9K | 50h 50m |
| 6 | MLBB Women’s Invitational 2022 | MLBB | 392,405 | 2.10M | ~57.6K | 36h 30m |
| 7 | Asian Esports Games 2024 | MLBB | 326,125 | 1.54M | ~43.6K | 35h 20m |
| 8 | VCT Game Changers Championship 2023 | VALORANT | 293,993 | 5.61M | ~124.7K | 45h |
| 9 | MLBB Women’s Invitational 2024 | MLBB | 265,117 | 2.55M | 74.3K | 34h 15m |
| 10 | IESF World Esports Championship 2024 – Women | MLBB | 257,912 | 1.18M | ~43.0K | 27h 25m |
Note: All statistics were sourced from Esports Charts, accurate as of Sep. 9, 2026. Chinese streaming platform viewership data are excluded.
MLBB leads women’s esports in peak viewership
The 32nd Southeast Asian Games gold medal match between Indonesia and the Philippines broke the women’s esports viewership record, reaching a record 1.37 million concurrent viewers. The tournament also generated 6.36 million hours watched, despite running for less than 21 hours.
However, even without national-team events, MLBB still leads.
The 2026 MLBB Women’s International (MWI) at the Esports World Cup (EWC) peaked at 565,483 viewers when Team Vitality won its fourth title, becoming the second-most-popular women’s esports event ever recorded. VALORANT Game Changers’ record remains at 464,695 viewers, set when Shopify Rebellion defeated MIBR in 2024.
VALORANT’s watch-time advantage is narrowing
Peak viewership only tells one side of the story, though.
Game Changers has historically generated more sustained watch time, with its World Championships surpassing 5 million hours watched in 2022, 2023, and 2024, culminating in 6.35 million in 2024. By comparison, MWI did not cross the 5 million mark until 2026.
Longer VALORANT broadcasts partly explain the difference. However, airtime alone does not account for it, considering that both the 2023 and 2024 Game Changers Championships averaged roughly 125,000 viewers. This picture began to look very different in 2025.
MWI grew 87% year-on-year to 496,995 peak viewers, while the Game Changers Championship fell 51% to 228,672. By 2026, MWI had climbed another 14% to 565,483, with hours watched rising 34% to more than 5 million and average viewership increasing 17% to about 129,500.
Which game has the largest tournament prize pools?
At the flagship level, VALORANT and MLBB now offer identical team prize pools. Game Changers introduced a $500,000 Championship prize pool in 2022, while MWI reached the same level after joining the EWC in 2024.
| # | Tournament | Game | Team Prize Pool | Winning Team | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Game Changers Championship 2025 | VALORANT | $500K | Team Liquid Brazil | Seoul, South Korea |
| 2 | MLBB Women’s International 2026 | MLBB | $500K | Team Vitality Fem | Paris, France |
| 3 | MLBB Women’s Invitational 2025 | MLBB | $500K | Team Vitality Fem | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |
| 4 | Game Changers Championship 2024 | VALORANT | $500K | Shopify Rebellion Black | Berlin, Germany |
| 5 | MLBB Women’s Invitational 2024 | MLBB | $500K | Smart Omega Empress | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |
Note: Individual player awards are excluded.
This difference becomes far more apparent when we look beyond the flagship events.
Esports Charts’ 2024 ecosystem analysis highlighted that, of the nearly $3 million in women’s tournament prize money, more than $1.2 million came from VALORANT alone. Also, women’s competitions represented over 13% of all VALORANT prize money recorded that year, compared with just over 9% for MLBB.
Taken together, those figures make the distinction fairly clear. Even though their flagship team prize pools are tied, VALORANT distributes its investment across a broader competitive calendar.
Which game has the stronger women’s esports ecosystem?
While audience size favors MLBB, competitive infrastructure still favors VALORANT.
Nearly one in four VALORANT events (23.9%) tracked by Esports Charts in 2024 was classified as a “women’s competition,” more than double MLBB’s 11.7%. VALORANT also generated more than 5% of its overall esports watch time through women’s events, compared with only 1.3% for MLBB.
| Metric (2024) | VALORANT | MLBB |
|---|---|---|
| Women-only share of tournaments | 23.9% | 11.7% |
| Women’s share of total game prize money | 13.8% | 9.1% |
| Women’s share of total game esports watch time | 5.6% | 1.3% |
Riot Games launched VALORANT Game Changers in 2021, less than a year after VALORANT’s full global release. Instead of creating a single marquee tournament, Riot built regional circuits culminating in a global Game Changers Championship.
Game Changers also connects, at least structurally, with the broader VALORANT ecosystem.
For example, Riot’s Upward Player Mobility program created routes from Game Changers into Challengers qualifiers, rather than treating the circuit as a completely isolated competitive track. Apeks signing Ava ‘florescent’ Eugene for the VCT 2025 EMEA season was also a milestone for player progression beyond the Game Changers circuit.
MLBB has built a different competitive model
MLBB Women’s Invitational (later renamed to the MLBB Women’s International) followed in 2022.
Initially focused on Southeast Asia, the tournament gradually expanded its reach. MOONTON introduced qualification across more than 60 regions and positioned MWI alongside the Mid Season Cup as one of two parallel international MLBB championships under its “Two Champions, One Game” strategy.
Overall, VALORANT has the more developed year-round ladder while MLBB has the more powerful international centerpiece. However, both remain among the most popular female esports ecosystems.
Why is MLBB growing so quickly in women’s esports?
The clearest evidence for MLBB’s momentum is the MWI’s trajectory since joining the EWC ecosystem. From 2024 to 2026, the flagship event’s peak audience grew by more than 113%.
The improvement is not limited to a short-lived spike in the finals. Between the 2025 and 2026 editions, the average audience increased by around 17%, peak viewership by 14%, and total watch time by more than a third to over 5 million hours.
Several changes have happened alongside that growth.
A wider international footprint is paying off
First is geographic expansion. MWI qualification spanned 57 regions in 2025, adding representation from markets including Africa, Mongolia, and Türkiye. The 2026 version crossed 60 regions and added a Western Europe qualifier.
Second is MLBB’s existing mobile audience. Indonesian, Bahasa Malaysia, and Vietnamese broadcasts accounted for a substantial share of women’s esports watch time in 2025, with Esports Charts noting that all three increased their share year-on-year thanks to mobile gaming titles.
Third is the national-team effect, especially in Southeast Asia. MWI is MLBB’s flagship women’s tournament, but it is not the game’s only major audience driver. The 2023 SEA Games set a record of 1.37 million viewers, while the 2025 SEA Games peaked at 469,480 viewers.
This makes it difficult to attribute MLBB’s growth to a single factor. Wider qualification, EWC exposure, increased international reach, and the title’s already enormous Southeast Asian audience have all developed alongside that growth.
Why did VALORANT Game Changers viewership fall in 2025?
VALORANT’s Game Changers Championship grew from a peak of 239,334 viewers in 2022 to 464,695 in 2024.
In 2025, that momentum reversed. Peak viewership fell to 228,672, down roughly 51% year-on-year. Hours watched also dropped 40.8% to 3.75 million, while average viewership declined by around 43%.
However, attributing the decline to a single cause is harder.
The decline came amid broader circuit struggles
Esports Charts had already highlighted lost viewership across regional events in 2024 as community casters showed less interest in mid-season events. That mattered because co-streaming had helped drive earlier Championship growth, with creators like Tarik and Kyedae contributing additional broadcasts in 2023.
Our April 2026 report on the broader struggles facing Game Changers added another layer, pointing to weaker promotion and the departure of organizations such as 100 Thieves, Cloud9, and YFP. Those factors provide useful context, although they should not be read as proving that any of them caused the decline in viewership.
The wider Game Changers ecosystem still has value
Game Changers remained the most-watched women’s esports event series of 2025 by total watch time.
The Championship also generated an estimated $1.88 million in Media Value, the highest recorded for a female tournament that year. In other words, the ecosystem still generated substantial commercial and cumulative audience value even as its biggest event lost roughly half of its peak viewers.
Even so, it is too early to call the decline permanent.
There are still signs of a rebound in 2026
Game Changers EMEA Stage 1 increased from 679,388 hours watched and 36,527 peak viewers in 2025 to 1.21 million hours and 58,865 peak viewers in 2026. That works out to roughly 79% growth in watch time and 61% growth in peak viewership year-on-year.
Having said that, the bigger test is still ahead of us. The 2026 Game Changers Championship will take place in São Paulo from Oct. 22 to Nov. 1, with 10 teams qualifying from the Americas, EMEA, the Pacific, and China. Until those numbers arrive, making a full 2026 flagship comparison would be premature.
So, which game is leading the women’s esports race?
Since the two games dominate different parts of the ecosystem, we do not have a clear winner.
However, if dominance is measured by audience size, MLBB is currently ahead. If it’s measured instead by the depth of the competitive ecosystem, VALORANT still leads.
| Category | Winner | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| All-time peak viewership | MLBB | 1.37M at the 2023 SEA Games |
| Flagship-event peak | MLBB | 565,483 at MWI 2026 |
| Recent viewership momentum | MLBB | MWI’s peak more than doubled from 2024 to 2026 |
| Flagship team prize pool | Tie | Both offer $500K |
| Year-round competition | VALORANT | More established regional Game Changers circuits |
| Women’s share of game tournaments | VALORANT | 23.9% vs 11.7% in 2024 |
| Women’s share of game prize money | VALORANT | 13.8% vs. 9.1% in 2024 |
| Player-development pathway | VALORANT | Game Changers links into Challengers |
| Current international expansion | MLBB | MWI qualification now spans 60+ regions |
That makes 2026 something of a crossroads. MLBB has built the biggest women’s esports events in the world, while Game Changers remains the more developed year-round competitive structure. The question now is whether MOONTON can build more competition around MWI, or Riot can make its flagship event appointment viewing again.
The 2026 Game Changers Championship in São Paulo should give us the next major piece of evidence.
The post VALORANT vs. MLBB: Which game dominates women’s esports? appeared first on Esports Insider.
Mo’unga Returns as Taylor Gets Captaincy for Baltimore Decider
All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie has included Richie Mo’unga at flyhalf and handed the captaincy to Cody Taylor for the fourth and final Test of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry in Baltimore on Saturday.
The team for the final Test includes several changes to the side that played at FNB Stadium last weekend, with Ardie Savea, Luke Jacobson and Quinn Tupaea all ruled out with injury, and Fabian Holland also unavailable due to illness.
Along with Mo’unga, prop Fletcher Newell, lock Patrick Tuipulotu, loose forward Ethan Blackadder, and centre Anton Lienert-Brown will all make their first Test starts of the series.
In other changes to the 23, prop Ethan de Groot and lock Josh Lord both return since leaving the field in the first Test, having progressed through the World Rugby concussion protocols.
Taylor returns as starting hooker and will captain the side, while Asafo Aumua shifts to the reserves. Tighthead props Fletcher Newell and Tyrel Lomax also switch this week, with Newell taking the starting spot.
With Tuipulotu coming in to partner Sam Darry at lock, Tupou Vaa’i shifts back to blindside flanker to join Peter Lakai and Blackadder in the loose trio.
Josh Moorby takes the left wing, and Rieko Ioane and Beauden Barrett both enter the 23 as backs cover.
“We always planned for there to be a number of changes for this match,” Rennie said.
“Every player here has worked incredibly hard over the last seven weeks to prepare the team for the seven games we’ve played so far, and all those selected for this Test fully deserve it
“We have everything to play for on Saturday. It is our chance to draw the series and end the tour with a performance to be proud of.
“We have had incredible support travelling with us throughout the tour and amazing support back at home. We want to put in a performance that shows how much we appreciate that. We also want to honour the players and management who have returned home early but contributed so much.”
All Blacks match-day 23 (Test caps in brackets):
15 Damian McKenzie (80)
14 Will Jordan (60)
13 Anton Lienert-Brown (93)
12 Jordie Barrett (84)
11 Josh Moorby (4)
10 Richie Mo’unga (56)
9 Cam Roigard (23)
8 Peter Lakai (13)
7 Ethan Blackadder (14)
6 Tupou Vaa’i (50)
5 Sam Darry (11)
4 Patrick Tuipulotu (58)
3 Fletcher Newell (40)
2 Codie Taylor (captain, 111)
1 Ethan de Groot (44)
Replacements:
16 Asafo Aumua (25)
17 Xavier Numia (4)
18 Tyrel Lomax (54)
19 Josh Lord (16)
20 Wallace Sititi (22)
21 Kyle Preston (4)
22 Rieko Ioane (88)
23 Beauden Barrett (144)
Issued by SA Rugby Communications
The post Mo’unga Returns as Taylor Gets Captaincy for Baltimore Decider appeared first on SportsClub.
Former world record holder advises Kenyan athletes on how to use their riches
NAIROBI, Kenya, September 11, 2026 – Former world record holder for the women’s marathon, Tegla Loroupe, has called on Kenyan sportsperson to better the lives of their local communities by participating in noble causes.
Loroupe holds that athletes should not forget their humble backgrounds even as they enjoy success on the international front.
“For sure, I think something they can learn from me is that I come from a humble background. I believe also even the current athletes, nobody comes from a rich family, they come from a humble background. This is something they should never forget,” the two-time New York Marathon champion said.
The 53-year-old rose from the dusty plains of the war-torn West Pokot to become one of the most distinguished female runners to ever emerge from Kenya.
Loroupe clocked 2:20:47 to set a new world record at the Rotterdam Marathon in April 1998, lowering it by four seconds, a year later at Berlin Marathon.
In addition to winning two New York Marathon titles, she also boast three Rotterdam Marathon crowns, and three world half marathon wins.
With the experience of the harsh conditions of growing up in a poverty-stricken area afflicted by conflict, Loroupe has channeled her success to the grassroots, becoming a voice of the voiceless, including girls from marginalised communities as well as refugees.
Through the Tecla Loroupe Peace Foundation, the former marathoner established annual Peace Run in Kapenguria to bring warring tribes together to lay down their arms in exchange for exploring their sports talents.
Reflecting on her struggles to scale up the athletics ladder, Loroupe says her eventual success should inspire many others faced with similar predicaments in their lives.
She also acknowledges that the situation has somewhat improved as cultural bottlenecks that had previously frowned upon sportswomen has thawed over the years.
“Nowadays, they have everything but during our time, we had a lot of luggage coming from the family. You didn’t have equipment or even money to take you to competitions but we did not lose hope. We had to fight…while you are still alive, you have to fight,” Loroupe said.
Other than running to put food on the table, Loroupe believes it should be a Kenyan culture adopted to fight lifestyle diseases.
The Covid-19 pandemic, Loroupe mentions, was a prime opportunity to ingrain a running culture among Kenyans.
“Look at the Covid-19 period, many people embraced running because they were tired of staying in the house. I wish we could have continued as a country with the same practice even after the pandemic ended,” she said.
Her passion for charitable causes were recently on show at the Strathmore Annual Run in Nairobi where she ran in the 2.5km race.
Loroupe admitted she didn’t think for a second when she was offered the opportunity to come on board the initiative, which seeks to raise funds for scholarship for needy students at the institution.
“I want to say something that motivated me is the VC (vice chancellor) who stood for charity to support the underprivileged students and therefore, that’s something that’s in my heart. When I see somebody who has the heart of supporting and is using this energy also to bring other people, that motivates me a lot. I may not give much but I am happy to contribute,” she said.
Lucas Bergvall prolonge avec Tottenham
Tottenham poursuit sa politique tournée vers la jeunesse. Le club londonien a annoncé la prolongation de Lucas Bergvall, l’un de ses jeunes éléments les plus prometteurs. À 20 ans, le milieu de terrain suédois s’inscrit désormais dans la durée avec les Spurs, après avoir déjà disputé 80 rencontres sous leurs couleurs.
« Construire quelque chose de formidable »
Lucas Bergvall entend poursuivre son aventure à Londres. Le milieu suédois a accueilli cette prolongation avec enthousiasme et affiche de grandes ambitions pour la suite.
« Je pense que nous sommes en train de construire quelque chose de formidable ici. C’est une période passionnante pour le club et c’est pourquoi je suis heureux de prolonger mon contrat », a-t-il expliqué.
Le joueur souhaite également franchir un nouveau cap sur le plan individuel. « Mon objectif est d’apporter davantage à l’équipe, avec des performances, des buts et des passes décisives, afin de contribuer au maximum. Je progresse chaque jour à l’entraînement et j’ai hâte de vivre une très belle saison », a-t-il ajouté.
De Zerbi compte sur lui
Chez les Spurs, la confiance accordée à Bergvall est totale. Le directeur sportif Johan Lange considère le Suédois comme « un jeune joueur exceptionnel doté d’un potentiel énorme ». Il met notamment en avant « ses qualités techniques, son intelligence sur le terrain et le caractère que nous attendons de nos joueurs ».
Roberto De Zerbi partage cette confiance. L’entraîneur italien apprécie particulièrement l’état d’esprit de son milieu au quotidien.
« Chaque jour à l’entraînement, on peut constater le désir de Lucas d’apprendre, de progresser et de se surpasser », a expliqué De Zerbi, avant d’insister sur sa personnalité : « Lucas est courageux, il aspire aux responsabilités et possède le tempérament nécessaire pour briller dans les moments décisifs. Je crois que le meilleur est encore à venir pour lui. »
Une progression rapide depuis son arrivée
Arrivé à Tottenham en provenance de Djurgården en 2024, Bergvall s’est rapidement imposé dans le groupe londonien. Pour sa première saison, il a participé à 45 rencontres et a reçu un triple titre de Joueur de la saison en mai 2025.
Son parcours a également été marqué par un premier trophée européen avec Tottenham, même s’il n’a pas pu participer à la finale de la Ligue Europa à Bilbao en raison d’une blessure.
Cette saison encore, le Suédois continue de prendre de l’importance. Il a notamment trouvé le chemin des filets de la tête contre West Ham et compte déjà 33 apparitions supplémentaires avec les Spurs.
Son été a également été historique sur le plan international. Avec la Suède, Bergvall est devenu le plus jeune joueur de son pays à disputer une Coupe du Monde, après la qualification obtenue face à la Pologne.
À 20 ans, avec déjà 80 matches sous le maillot de Tottenham et 14 sélections avec la Suède, Lucas Bergvall représente clairement l’un des paris sur l’avenir du club londonien.
The post Lucas Bergvall prolonge avec Tottenham appeared first on AfricaFootUnited.
Le ministère des Sports annonce « Les samedis du sport pour tous »
Le ministère de la Jeunesse et des Sports, en collaboration avec Mercato Sport, annonce le lancement officiel du programme national « Les samedis du sport pour tous ». Ce programme vise à promouvoir la pratique sportive de masse, à améliorer la santé des populations et à renforcer la cohésion sociale. À travers ce concept, le […]
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