Fans Demand and Riot Games Listens: LEC Allows Co-Streams for Spanish-Speaking Channels
Fans asked and Riot Games delivered. Following the expansion of LCS’ co-streaming for 2023, the LEC has also enabled co-streaming, but only for Spanish-speaking channels.
LEC Partners with KOI and Team Heretics for Co-Streams
Today, the LEC officially announced its partnership with KOI and Team Heretics to enable co-streams from Jan. 21 to Feb. 20. Spanish-speaking fans will have the opportunity to watch matches on Team Heretics’ official channel, while popular streamer Ibai will lead Koi’s content as a co-founder of the organization. Both channels are expected to attract a large audience.
Ibai’s Overwhelming Viewership
Ibai has consistently maintained an average audience of 100,000 viewers over the last seven days. With Koi’s debut in the LEC, these numbers are likely to grow even further.
The Scope of the Co-Stream Deal
This co-streaming agreement covers the entire winter season and group phase. However, the winter playoffs will not be available for co-streaming, as they are scheduled to start after the deal’s expiration.
(Youtube video embedded here)
Potential Expansion of Co-Streams
Riot has expressed its intention to closely monitor the success of these co-streams. If they prove to be successful, Riot is open to expanding the program to include co-streams in different languages from other LEC teams in the future. Possible languages to consider include French (through Team Vitality and BDS), Danish (with Astralis), and German (with SK Gaming). However, it is unlikely that co-streams will be expanded to English-speaking channels.
Spanish Broadcast’s Viewership Success
In the 2022 LEC Summer Split, the LEC’s Spanish broadcast had the second-highest number of simultaneous viewers after the English stream, peaking at over 80,000 viewers, according to Esports Charts.
However, it is important to note that the 2022 LEC Summer Split had lower general viewership compared to previous splits, experiencing a gradual decline in numbers since 2020.
Motivation behind LEC Format Changes
This decline in viewership may have influenced the recent format changes in the LEC, as well as the decision to allow co-streaming in local languages during the regular season.
2023 LEC Winter Season Kick-Off
The 2023 LEC Winter Season will begin on Jan. 21 at 11am CT with a match between G2 Esports and Excel.
( LEC, co-streams, Spanish-speaking channels, Riot Games, KOI, Team Heretics, Ibai, viewership, winter season, format changes, regular season)