LCP 2026 ends with a 38% drop in watch time

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The League of Legends Championship Pacific concluded its 2026 season on August 30, with total watch time down 38.2% from its inaugural year despite nearly unchanged airtime. Split 3 recorded the league’s second-lowest peak audience since its launch in 2025.

LCP 2026 Split 3 hits near all-time low for revamped Pacific series

  LCP 2026 Split 3 viewership statistics  

The LCP 2026 Split 3 peaked at 153.1K viewers during the Week 4, Day 4 clash between Secret Whales and CTBC Flying Oyster, the second-lowest figure in series history. Only the LCP 2026 Split 1 has reached fewer concurrent viewers.

CTBC Flying Oyster won the seeding series 3:2 to secure the top seed for the Playoffs. The Grand Final between the same teams ranked second with 152,696 Peak Viewers, just 478 below the tournament peak.

A third match earlier in the Playoffs between Secret Whales and CTBC Flying Oyster, two of the most popular LCP sides, also sat in fourth by Peak Viewers.

  Most popular events in the LCP series by Peak Viewers   

Japanese-language broadcasts accounted for a smaller share of total watch time than in Split 2. The elimination of both Japanese teams, DetonatioN FocusMe and Fukuoka SoftBank HAWKS, before the Playoffs may have contributed to this decline.

Twitch’s share of total watch time also declined compared with Split 2, while YouTube’s share increased.

  Most popular regional qualifiers for the LoL Worlds 2026 by Peak Viewers   

At the time of data collection, LCP Split 3 ranked third by Peak Viewers among the six regional competitions shown, excluding Chinese streaming platforms. The other five competitions were still ongoing, making this comparison provisional.

LCP 2026 vs. 2025: declines across key viewership metrics

Overall, the second season of the League of Legends Championship Pacific saw a big fall in viewership across all major metrics. Both years had three tournaments each, but the overall watch time fell by 38.2% this year despite the airtime being almost the same.

  Viewership comparison of the two LCP seasons held so far   

Average viewership also decreased by 37.6% despite more unique broadcasting channels covering the action in 2026. The season’s highest peak fell 64.1% year over year, from 483,444 to 173,607 live viewers.

Most of the top sides from 2025 retained their slots this year, although PSG Talon was a major miss after its removal by Riot Games for failing to operate according to league standards.

CTBC Flying Oyster, which won all three LCP titles in 2025, reached only one final in 2026, losing 0:3 to Secret Whales in Split 3.

GAM Esports did not reach a final in 2026. Given the team’s popularity among Vietnamese-speaking viewers, the league’s largest language audience, its absence from title-deciding matches may have limited peak viewership.

Nevertheless, with the season done, we now know which sides will represent the LCP at the 2026 World Championship. Secret Whales and CTBC Flying Oyster will be the Swiss Stage teams, while MVK Esports made it to the Play-In stage by virtue of finishing with the highest points among the rest of the series' sides.