The Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro was electric during the IEM Rio Major in November. Almost 20,000 wild Brazilian fans were signing, blowing trumpets, chanting, and even smashing drums. Even streaming the event live at gg.bet/en/counter-strike! you feel the atmosphere through your screen. If you closed your eyes you would have sworn you were at a soccer match.
The whole tournament had a festival-like atmosphere which is unsurprising considering Brazil’s passion for CS:GO. The game has been popular in Brazil for over 20 years and is played by millions of people across the nations.
Every year Valve, CS:GO’s developer, sponsors two marquee tournaments known as Majors. These events feature the best teams and have prize pools over 7 figures. When Valve announced this year’s Major was coming to Rio the event sold out within hours!
Brazil even has a dedicated radical group of CS:GO fans called torcidas which are similar to ultras. These fans start the chants and spend the whole tournament dancing and screaming. Just a few thousand torcidas can completely transform an arena and create an incredible atmosphere. These torcidas bring a soccer-like atmosphere to esports.
The most famous chant the Brazilian fans invoke is the “La Tribonera”. This chant rings out throughout the stadium when they want to lift the spirits of the local team and scare the opposing team into a mistake.
It was absolutely deafening when the chant was unleashed in the Jeunesse Arena. At some points, you could not even hear the commentators who were drowned out by the wild crowd. The atmosphere was completely unprecedented and it really showed the world that esports could one day take over traditional sports. The atmosphere was far more intense than even some of the biggest football matches.
The great thing about the torcidas and passionate Brazilian fans is they bring the chants, drums, singing, and amazing atmosphere of soccer but without any of the aggressiveness or violence. The torcidas goal is to create a welcoming and happy atmosphere. They consider esports to be much more civilized than soccer. Esports fans also tend to be from a slightly different demographic background and are much more likely to be highly educated and from the middle class compared to soccer hooligans.
The atmosphere the Brazilian fans were able to create when the local team, Furia Esports was playing was simply breathtaking. Their constant chanting is a big reason why the Brazilian team was able to cause a massive upset and defeat the highly favored Ukrainian team, Natus Vincere.
Unfortunately, for the local Brazilian fans, Furia Esports just fell short in their semi-final match against Heroic. The enthusiasm and passion they showed weren’t quite enough to get Furia Esports into the finals.
The IEM Rio Major was a truly incredible esports tournament. If any doubts the viability of esports as a spectator sport then they need to watch this event. The atmosphere was truly incredible and far better than football derby matches in many countries. The energy was contagious and many of the players said it was an incredible experience to play in Brazil. We hope Valve takes note and organizes the next Major to be in Brazil soon!