League of Legends Esports Viewership Numbers Paint a Challenging Picture
The viewership numbers for League of Legends esports have been released, revealing a concerning state of the game, especially in North America. According to Esports Charts, viewership is down for both the recent summer split and the entire year. Despite the increased broadcasting hours due to a new format, the LEC experienced a seven percent drop in average viewership and over 80,000 fewer concurrent viewers for the summer split final compared to last year’s edition.
Decrease in LCK Viewership with a Silver Lining
The LCK also saw a slight drop in average viewership during the summer split, approximately five percent. However, there was increased viewership for the Gen.G-versus-T1 rematch in the split final, with over 200,000 more people tuning in. It’s worth noting that the LCK viewership significantly dropped when Faker was resting due to injury, suggesting that a single player’s absence can affect viewership.
North America’s LCS Faces a Significant Drop in Viewership
On the other hand, North America’s LCS had a shocking 30 percent drop in average viewership in just five months, with an average of 76,889 concurrent viewers across the entire split. This is a significant decline compared to the six-digit numbers recorded during the spring split in April and summer 2022. In fact, the 2023 LCS summer split recorded the lowest average viewership in over six years, which raises concerns about the overall health of the scene.
Possible Factors Contributing to the Decline
The community has speculated about the reasons behind the sharp drop in LCS viewership. One possible factor is the shift to weekday matches in the early afternoon, instead of playing on weekends. Riot chose to allocate weekends for VALORANT’s VCT Americas season, which meant moving the LCS to the midweek.
Another contributing factor is the shared use of the same arena between League of Legends and VALORANT. Holding both tournaments over the weekend wasn’t feasible, so Riot decided to schedule the LCS on Thursdays and Fridays.
Implications for the World Championship
The impact of these viewership declines will become evident during the World Championship in South Korea in October. Many fans are showing less interest in regional leagues and are instead focusing on major tournaments like MSI and Worlds, where they can watch the best teams compete at the highest level in League of Legends.
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