The 2016 Capcom Cup concluded last weekend in a tournament that had the highest prize pool seen in a fighting game tournament to date. It was also broadcast on ESPN2 as well as Twitch simultaneously, with an edited re-broadcast of the finals aired some time afterwards. The last Street Fighter V tournament broadcast on ESPN2 was the Evo finals, which drew in 200,000 viewers, but this time around the numbers weren't as impressive.
Last weekend's broadcast drew in 87,000 viewers, less than half than that of the Evo finals, with 46,000 viewers falling into the key demographic of ages 18-49. Despite these low numbers, ESPN isn't worried, as an ESPN Spokesperson told SportsTVratings that the Capcom Cup "met our strategic objectives to experiment with new formats and programming and engage new fans."
The network doesn't have any current plans to broadcast more esports, but the spokesperson from ESPN said that they will "continue to look to deliver championship events that meet those objectives." Fighting games aren't doing as well in terms of viewership compared to other esports, either; the Cup finals on twitch peaked at around 108,000 viewers, which is down from last year. What do you think the reason was for the decline in numbers?
