October 28 witnessed one of the most prestigious nights on the global footballing calendar. The 2024 Ballon d'Or ceremony was held at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, attended by the who's who of the footballing world and a host of celebrities and prominent content creators.
The controversies surrounding Real Madrid and forward Vinicius Junior notwithstanding, the event was a resounding success worldwide and on live streaming. Covered on Twitch, YouTube Live, and Kick, it reached 2.2M Peak Viewers, 4.23M 286 Hours Watched, and 1.59M Average Viewers over an airtime of 3 hours.
Most popular sports events
| # | Event name | Peak Viewers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | La Velada del Año IV
|
4 341 709 PV
|
| 2 | La Velada del Año III
|
3 598 549 PV
|
| 3 | La Velada del Año II
|
3 351 678 PV
|
| 4 | Sidemen Charity Match 2022 | 2 807 969 PV
|
| 5 | Sidemen Charity Match 2023
|
2 705 925 PV
|
| 6 | AFC Asian Cup 2024
|
2 214 373 PV
|
| 7 | Ballon d’Or 2024
|
2 200 490 PV
|
| 8 | Kings League 2023 Split 1
|
2 111 732 PV
|
| 9 | ELEVEN ALL-STARS : FRANCE - ESPAGNE
|
1 749 265 PV
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| 10 | Stream Fighters 3
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1 606 320 PV
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These figures put the 2024 Ballon d'Or ceremony among the ten most popular events of all time in the Sports category. This top-ten list is dominated by football and boxing, with both segments contributing an even five entries each.
The latest function to pick the best men's and women's footballers over the past year saw Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri take home the former award. He became the first English Premier League-based player to win the coveted gong since Cristiano Ronaldo in 2007-08 and the first Spaniard to do so since 1960, when then Barcelona star Luis Suarez took home the prize.
On the women's side, it was Spain and Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmatí who clinched the trophy. In the process, she became the second player after club and international teammate Alexia Putellas to win the Ballon d'Or Feminin two times, also matching the latter's landmark of claiming the crown two times in a row.
Over 170 channels covered the event, including renowned online stars like IShowSpeed, CazeTV, and Abdo, with most of the co-casters coming from YouTube. Interestingly, ibai and DjMaRiiO — big parts of last year's co-streaming community — did not broadcast the event this time; instead, both attended the function, with the former sitting next to Speed as their interactions went viral on social media.
IShowSpeed emerged as the most successful channel to cover the show, continuing his growing association with the sport after his hit journey across Europe during the continental championship. His numbers across the three crucial metrics were lesser compared to last year’s live stream, which made him one of the ten most popular English-speaking solo streamers of all time, a record he has since surpassed.
Nevertheless, he was a big reason that English broadcasts ended as the most watched, as they took up over 37.5% of the cumulative watch time. The American YouTube superstar's coverage of the 2024 Ballon d'Or ceremony also ended as one of the week's most popular ones on the red platform.
There was a massive controversy that loomed over the Ballon d'Or ceremony as well. It involved players from reigning European champion Real Madrid choosing to boycott the event after learning that neither Vinicius Junior nor Dani Carvajal would not be winning the men's Ballon d'Or despite the former being the favorite after enjoying a landmark season in 2023-24.
Unlike previous years, when the Ballon d'Or results were revealed a few days before the ceremony, the organizers decided to keep the results under wraps until the actual show this year. However, the winners' names were leaked on social media a couple of days before the big night; when the Spanish giant learned that Rodri had been chosen by the panel, it decided to skip the function, citing bias by UEFA and France Football.
That might have been a big reason for many Spanish-language streamers keeping away this year, as they had accounted for approximately 50% of the total Hours Watched for all ceremony broadcasts in 2023. Despite one of their countrymen winning the coveted men's gong, the fact that many support Real Madrid helped make up their minds when it came to not co-casting the awards function.
This must also have factored into the fact that Vinicius Junior and Rodri were the most mentioned topics on Twitch chat on the day of the 2024 Ballon d'Or ceremony, with Real Madrid a distant third. They were among the most discussed subjects leading up to the function as well, reinforcing just how much traction the entire episode of the Galacticos' boycott had received on social media.
Among the other winners were the recent Kings League capture, Barcelona starlet Lamine Yamal, who took home the Kopa Trophy for the best young player. Argentinian and Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was recognized as the best goalkeeper for the second straight year while England's Harry Kane and French superstar Kylian Mbappe received the Gerd Muller Trophy. Real Madrid, in what many saw as a consolation, was named Club of the Year.
