Record-breaking Viewership at 2018 League of Legends World Championship
The 2018 League of Legends (LoL) World Championship made history in more ways than one. For the first time, a Chinese team emerged as the champion, while no Korean team made it to the final. The success of the event was also evident in the smashing of viewership records. According to data from Esports Charts, the championship match between Invictus Gaming and Fnatic attracted a peak of over 200 million viewers, nearly doubling the previous year’s peak. Furthermore, the average number of concurrent viewers also grew by 41 percent compared to last year.
Chinese Viewership Plays a Big Role
The significant increase in viewership can be attributed largely to the vast number of Chinese viewers. As the most populous region for LoL, it was expected that the win by a team from the Chinese LPL (League of Legends Pro League) would generate immense interest. This global appeal of the game is one of its selling points, but it also highlights the dependence of the World Championship on the Chinese fanbase for growth.
Decline in Viewership without Chinese Fans
Excluding the Chinese viewers, the peak viewership for the final actually declined by just over three percent compared to the previous year. This decline can be attributed to reduced interest from Korean fans, who for the first time since season one did not have a team in the final. However, this drop was offset by an increase in viewership from other regions, particularly due to the impressive performance of Fnatic, a Western team that made it to the final after many years. The English stream saw a 12 percent increase from last year, likely due to Fnatic’s success.
Reliability of Chinese Figures and Potential for Growth
While the reliance on Chinese viewership figures is significant, obtaining accurate data from Chinese websites has historically been challenging. Streaming platforms like YouTube are banned in China, so Chinese viewers rely on platforms like Panda TV to watch the World Championship. However, the credibility of these platforms has been questioned, with allegations of artificially inflated viewer counts through the use of bots. Additionally, monetizing the Chinese audience has also proven to be a challenge for many companies in the sports industry.
Despite these concerns, the overall picture of the growth of the World Championship remains positive. While it may still have a long way to go to match the viewership of events like the World Cup, which reportedly reached over 900 million viewers in 2018, the World Championship is already bigger than any other major sporting event. If the current growth trajectory continues, it has the potential to become the largest sports spectacle in history.
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