Cover-Credits:
Valve won a Sports Emmy award for The International (TI) 10’s grand finals between Team Spirit vs PSG.LGD. TI is not only the biggest Dota 2 event in the world but it also draws a lot of attention in the mainstream media. The grand finals of the 2021 world championship had one of the best stories in esports history and it deservedly won the Sports Emmy this year in the Outstanding Esports Championship Coverage category.
The Dota 2 finals beat out Overwatch League, League of Legends' Worlds and more
Team Spirit’s pulled off a massive upset after beating PSG.LGD and taking home over $18 million USD from the $40 million USD prize pool. The event broke all viewership records for Dota 2 esports with millions of viewers tuning in. TI9 saw a 1.9 million peak viewership and TI10 absolutely demolished the record by raking in over 2.7 million viewers during the grand finals.
After making it through the regional qualifier and going 0-4 in the group stage to host the Aegis of the Champions at TI10, Team Spirit defeated some of the best teams in the circuit including Team Secret, Invictus Gaming, OG, Virtus.pro, Fnatic, and more. Before The International kicked off, not many fans would have guessed that Team Spirit would win the event, but it did.
At the Sports Emmy, the TI 10 finals went up against the League of Legends Worlds 2021 final between DAMWON KIA and Edward Gaming, the Overwatch League 2021 grand finals between Altanta Reign and Shanghai Dragons, the Ultimate Madden Bowl Finale and the WePlay AniMajor finals between Evil Geniuses and PSG.LGD.
The Outstanding Esports Championship Coverage was the only esports category at the event. But its inclusion will go a long way into bringing esports events into the spotlight in the world of mainstream media.
