The League of Legends<\/em> esports viewership numbers are finally in after the delayed wrap-up of Europe’s LEC yesterday, and they don’t paint a pretty picture of the state of the game\u2014particularly in North America.<\/p>
Across the board, League<\/em> viewership is down both this recent summer split and the year as a whole according to stats site Esports Charts<\/a>. Despite the boost in broadcast hours thanks to its new format, the LEC saw a seven percent drop in average viewership<\/a> and over 80,000 fewer concurrents for the summer split final compared to 2022’s edition<\/a>.<\/p>
While not as drastic of a fall, LCK also saw a slight drop in average viewers in the summer\u2014approximately five percent<\/a>. However, plenty more tuned in for the Gen.G-versus-T1 rematch in this split final: Over 200,000 more people watched Gen.G hold off T1 to claim the LCK championship. Given the huge viewership drop when Faker was rested due to injury, to say a single player was responsible for the fall in LCK viewership isn’t that far-fetched.<\/p>
The same could not be said for North America’s offering this year. The LCS saw a shock 30 percent drop in average viewers in just five months, recording 76,889 concurrents on average<\/a> across the split as a whole. This pales in comparison to the six-digit numbers recorded during the spring split in April<\/a> and summer 2022<\/a>.<\/p>
The community has speculated<\/a> on what has caused this sharp drop in LCS viewership. The shift to weekday matches in the early afternoon, as opposed to playing on weekends, was sure to leave a mark on who could tune in to watch. Riot opted to open the weekend up for VALORANT’s<\/em> VCT Americas season, pushing the LCS to the midweek.<\/p>
The impact on the esport at large will be evident come October’s World Championship in South Korea<\/a>. Many cited a drop in interest in regional leagues and instead favored tuning in for MSI and Worlds, where they can watch the very best teams compete for the pinnacle of League<\/em>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
