2026 Split 1 becomes LCP's first event to miss reaching 200K Peak Viewers
One of the top-tier circuits on the League of Legends esports calendar for early 2026 — LCP 2026 Split 1 — concluded over the weekend. The early elimination of the usual favorites for the title meant that it failed to match the viewership numbers from 2025, its inaugural season.
The League of Legends Championship Pacific is the top-tier regional league for the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, bringing together the best teams from sub-regions such as Vietnam, Japan, Oceania, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. Its first split of the new season saw three partner teams and five guest teams battle it out for a spot at this year's first global championship, the First Stand 2026.
After around 45 days of action, the Vietnamese side Secret Whales defeated Taiwan's Deep Cross Gaming 3:0 in the Grand Final. This was the most popular match of the event, peaking at 143,502 viewers, making it the least performing split in the series by this metric. In fact, every other edition reached at least 200,000 Peak Viewers (PV).
A big reason for the drop in viewership numbers this time was the early exits of favourites CTBC Flying Oyster and GAM Esports. The former, a Taiwanese esports organization, had been the most dominant side last year, winning all three regional events and representing the APAC circuit at all three international championships.
GAM Esports, meanwhile, has been the most dominant team in the Vietnam circuit over the past few years. Although its performances in the 2025 LCP season were inconsistent, the side continued to draw massive support from fans back home as it finished among the top five regularly, helping the new series put up solid viewership numbers.
Both CTBC Flying Oyster and GAM Esports exited the LCP 2026 Split 1 in the first round of the Playoffs, which affected viewership interest from followers in their countries. Coupled with the absence of another prominent name in PSG Talon, removed from the league at the start of the year due to failure to operate in accordance with league standards, the event suffered from a lack of hype.
The failure of GAM Esports to make it deep into the Playoffs was especially evident in Vietnamese viewership statistics. The language suffered falls of 121.4% and 100.7% in its watch time and peak live viewership, respectively, compared to the LCP 2025 Season Kickoff, the first split last season.
Among all the League of Legends tournaments happening around the globe this year, the LCP 2026 Split 1 sits in the fifth spot by concurrent viewers. However, that could change as other renowned circuits like the LFL and the LPL are yet to end.
Overall, it was an underwhelming start to the season for the LCP, which had established a reputation for being one of the League of Legends' quickest growing leagues in 2025. A fresh winner might point to the circuit's high competitiveness, but it did reduce viewership interest in one of its most crucial markets.
Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how Secret Whales does when it heads to São Paulo for the first major global LoL tournament of the season. Esports Charts will cover the action from the First Stand 2026 and provide readers with viewership insights and results in our news section.
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