LoL viewership has always been a vital element in determining its success. Let’s see how the numbers are in the new season.
Image Credits | Riot Games
LoL viewership – Introduction to 2024
The League of Legends competitive 2024 season is well underway, with all teams competing in their respective domestic leagues. After a successful end to the 2023 year, which saw record-breaking numbers at Worlds, LoL esports hopes to ride that wave of enthusiasm in the new season, despite the economic downturn affecting the industry as a whole.
Let’s take a look at the numbers, categorized by each region, and then make a general overview later. Unfortunately, there aren’t viewership stats for the LPL so far, so we won’t be able to analyze the Chinese region for the time being.
LEC Viewership – The most stable league?
Let’s start with the LEC, which is the only region with three splits. Last year, average viewership had remained more or less stable but we were able to see higher peaks across specific matches. This year, we have already started seeing much higher numbers, thanks to the introduction of Karmine Corp, as well as the addition of co-streamers for the European matches.
LEC Winter 2024
According to escharts.com, the first week of the LEC 2022 Spring Split had a peak viewership of 741,450, registered in the match between MDK and KC. It’s not surprising given the presence of the two teams’ owners, Ibai and Kameto. The match broke the peak record from last year’s Winter split of 527,567, achieved in the playoff series between G2 and MAD.
Peak viewership is not the only one that went up: average viewership is currently at 342,034, around 70k higher than last year. This further shows how having teams with big fan bases helps the European scene. And considering we’re still in the regular split, we should expect higher numbers later in the split.
LCS Viewership – The downfall of the NA scene
Even though the LCS lost two teams and is now an 8-team league, the team benefitted a lot with the return to the weekend schedule. This change greatly improved the viewership numbers, as the match between C9 and NRG registered 191,540 viewers. Average viewership has been well above last year’s numbers: 118,851 so far, a lot closer to 2022’s numbers (123,411).
The LCS has been trying to regain fans’ interest by making teams play on live patches, and finding a way to incentivize viewers to tune in. We’ll see whether this will work in the long term.
Image Credits | Riot Games
LCK Viewership – This is where the best show lies
The LCK continues to be the most successful league in the world, with the highest peak and average numbers globally. While our stats don’t take into account the Chinese fan base, there are quite a lot of people from China who consistently watch the Korean league.
In terms of Western viewership, the LCK have broken the records once again this year, achieving its highest peak viewership in the opening match between Gen.G and T1. Nearly 1.2 million (1,197,492) fans tuned in, more than 400k higher than the most-watched series in the regular spring split last season. To put it in comparison, the only match with higher viewership in Spring 2023 was the Grand Final, which stopped the counter at 1,467,849. If we see Gen.G and T1 go at it in the final, then we might witness new records being broken.
Image Credit: League of Legends Champions Korea Flickr
Main Takeaways
The global esports landscape saw a great surge in numbers and growth in the last few years. While some of the numbers were partially inflated by the global pandemic, 2023 and 2024 are proving that esports is becoming more and more mainstream. Western fans are tuning in more and more to live matches, and there is constant interest across all regions. Even the LCS, which struggled last season, is gaining some of its viewers thanks to the new schedule. Given the higher stake matches across the world, and the new season changes, we might see more records being broken this year.