The first phase of the 2024 League of Legends season has come and gone, with the conclusion of the various regional Spring splits taking us towards the second international, and first cross-regional, competition of the year — Mid-Season Invitational 2024. As is always the case, there is a certain hierarchy to how each league performs, with the likes of the LLA and PCS not as successful viewership-wise as the LCK or LEC but continuing to attract thousands of fans.
Esports Charts has collated the viewership results of these world circuits and made some observations, which are presented below. Key among them include the Korean tournament's sustained run as a record-breaking force, China once again proving a more popular region than North America, and LEC continuing its recent upturn in fortunes.
Viewership stats of various regional splits
Atop the pile once again was the LCK Spring 2024 which hit an astonishing 2.66M Peak Viewers, continuing its recent trend of creating series records with each subsequent split. Known as LoL's premiere regional league, this Korean competition enjoys passionate support from home fans, whose knowledge of and expertise in video gaming helps the country produce some of the most competitive players and teams globally.
The Grand Final between eternal rivals T1 and Gen.G, where the latter won its fourth straight split to assert its dominance over the world champion, made it the most popular event in the series. Moreover, it set several other discipline records, including finishing as the most-viewed League of Legends tournament of all time outside the Worlds.
Readers must note that the summit clash was not only the most popular LCK match ever but also the highest Korean-language peak viewership in esports outside the League of Legends world championship. What has played a major part in this recent upward curve is the two teams that are the most dominant.
Over the years, the community has grown to appreciate T1 and Gen.G and their games against each other. These encounters make leagues truly special and are what drives viewership higher; without them, such figures are unlikely to be attained so consistently.
Next comes an unlikely name in the LEC Spring 2024, which is slowly recovering from a downturn in audience figures during the last few years. This latest event did a higher peak and average viewership than last year’s Spring split, thanks in part to Fnatic continuing its pursuit of a title over the past couple of years, eventually falling short in the Grand Final.
It has to be pointed out that this competition benefits a lot from the celebrity that team owners and content creators bring to the table. The likes of Karmine Corp (Kamet0), MAD Lions KOI (Ibai), and Fnatic (Caedral) enjoy a lot more support and following thanks to the names they are associated with. This can only prove to be a good thing in terms of viewership in the long run.
Next in line is the always-reliable CBLOL, whose Split 1 2024 was another competition to set new records. It ended as the most watched and most popular (by peak concurrent viewers) edition in the series, thanks to the Grand Final featuring LOUD and paiN Gaming for the fourth straight split.
This clash has ended up gaining cult status in the region, helping it consistently draw large audience numbers. It also has to be remembered that these are two of the most well-known esports organizations in the country, which always helps when it comes to enjoying fan support whenever they play.
Among the other regional leagues that acted as qualifiers for the MSI 2024, the VCS remained the most successful. Despite the high controversy, which saw 29 pros accused of match-fixing, resulting in the nullifying of results of two game weeks and the preemptive end of the group stage, the VCS Spring 2024 ended as the second-most popular event in the league's history.
Now we come to the LCS, about which enough has been written and spoken recently. The league continued to lose audiences, with the Spring 2024 edition ending behind its ever-improving Chinese counterpart, the LPL Spring 2024, in terms of peak online viewers for the second consecutive split.
Coming to the final two names, the PCS and LLA leagues gained mightily despite their numbers paling in comparison to their more renowned cousins. The Pacific region's Spring tournament, thanks to the recent inclusions of Oceania and Japan, broke records to outright become the most-watched and most popular split in the circuit’s history.
LLA's first league of the year, meanwhile, notched a fresh record peak viewership among opening splits, reaching over 100K concurrent viewers for the Grand Final between Movistar R7 and Estral Esports. However, the general viewership trend continued to see a dip, with its average viewership dropping, meaning a decrease in interest for the league.
Special mention has to go to the LFL Spring 2024, which continues to gain popularity year-on-year even as its Spanish counterpart goes the opposite way. With the presence of Gotaga's Gentle Mates to go with Karmine Corp Blue, viewers have been arriving in droves to catch the action, with this year's peak viewership shooting up by 47%.
Participating teams at MSI 2024
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The next renowned LoL competition — MSI 2024 — will be held at the Chengdu Financial City Performing Arts Center in Chengdu, China, from May 1 to 19. It will see 12 top teams from the best regional leagues across the globe battle it out for a prize pool of $250,000, with the winner sealing its place in the 2024 World Championship.
In terms of the previous iteration, the Mid-Season Invitational 2023, held in London, hit 2.29M PV, the best result in the history of the series. It also hit records for watch time and average online viewership, which can mainly be attributed to its active community casting.
With major languages like Korean, Vietnamese, English, Japanese, and Portuguese all showing upturns at their regional splits, fans may see the above numbers broken again next month. Esports Charts will keep track of all the happenings at this global LoL competition, so readers can follow us on social media and check out the news section for updates.
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