The International is not only the biggest Dota 2 tournament every season, but it also brings a lot of eyes to the wider esports scene thanks to its high production value, the top level talent appearing on stage, and the record-breaking prize pool that only continues to rise each year. And, in recognition of that, Valve has received a Sports Emmy for the grand finals of TI10.
The award for ‘Outstanding Esports Championship Coverage’ was awarded to the TI10 finals where Team Spirit shocked the world and beat PSG.LGD to lift the Aegis of Champions and take home $18,208,300 from the $40 million prize pool.
That final matchup pulled in more than 2.7 million viewers and set a new TI viewership record, growing by over 37 percent compared to the 1.9 million peak of TI9. This jump in peak viewers was achieved by a combination of Eastern European fans showing out to support Spirit, setting a viewership record for the region at 1.2 million viewers from CIS streams, and the two-year hiatus between TI9 and TI10 drumming up so much hype for a return to international play.
For the Outstanding Esports Championship Coverage category at the 43rd Sports Emmy Awards, TI10 beat out the following esports championships to take home the award, including another Dota nomination from the same season:
- League of Legends Worlds 2021 Final: DAMWON KIA vs. Edward Gaming
- Overwatch League 2021 Grand Finals: Shanghai Dragons vs. Atlanta Reign
- Ultimate Madden Bowl Finale
- WePlay AniMajor: Evil Geniuses vs. PSG.LGD
This was also the only esports award featured during the 2022 Sports Emmys show, with no categories included for the personality or technical sections.
