Superliga vs LFL: Gotaga conquers the French league, and Ibai loses viewers in Spain

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The final matches of LFL Spring 2024 and Superliga Spring 2024, regional European tournaments of League of Legends, took place on April 4th. Compared to the previous year, the French league gained even more popularity, while the Spanish league continued to lose audience. The gap between the two main competitors from the EMEA Masters circuit has widened even further: by some metrics, LFL is now surpassing Superliga by 2-3 times.

The champion of LFL Spring 2024 was Karmine Corp Blue, defeating Team BDS Academy in the final with a score of 3:1. Interestingly, the most popular match of the league was not the grand final, but the series between Karmine Corp Blue and Gentle Mates in the group stage: it was watched by 234.1K Peak Viewers concurrently. Compared to the previous spring season, the peak viewership of the French league increased by 47%, and the average number of viewers increased by 16%. The total watch time increased by 12%: this figure could have been even higher, but LFL Spring 2024 had less airtime than last year.

Los Heretics claimed the title of Superliga Spring 2024, defeating Guasones Team in the deciding match with a score of 3:1. Interestingly, the grand final didn't even make it into the top 15 most popular matches of the season — all the high positions in the Spanish league were occupied by series involving Movistar KOI, whose matches were covered by its co-owner ibai. The most viewers were on the Movistar KOI game against ZETA, just over 89K concurrent viewers watched it. Compared to last year, the peak viewership of Superliga Spring decreased by 21%, and the average number of viewers decreased by 18%.

The growth of LFL in Spring 2024 can be attributed to several key factors. Firstly, Gentle Mates entering the league was quite a significant reason. A relatively young French organization secured their slot after LDLC OL departed. Founded by popular French streamers Brawks, Gotaga, and Squeezie, Gentle Mates quickly garnered attention. The club's presence extended beyond League of Legends, with teams also competing in Valorant, Rocket League, and Fortnite. Gotaga's regular coverage of Gentle Mates' matches during LFL Spring 2024 significantly boosted viewership statistics. The peak viewership on Gotaga's channel exceeded 90.3K Peak Viewers, second only to kamet0.

Secondly, the high loyalty of Kamet0's audience was another important factor. Despite the main roster of Karmine Corp advancing to the higher-level LEC this year, many feared that the academy team, Karmine Corp Blue, would struggle to attract a large audience in the French league. However, these concerns proved unfounded. Peak viewership during Kamet0's community castings increased by almost 24%: the audience continued to follow him regardless of the competition's level. For instance, Kamet0 attracted 93K PV during LFL Spring 2024 broadcasts, compared to 109.5K during LEC Spring 2024. While there is a difference, it's not as significant as on Ibai's broadcasts.

The decrease in viewership for Superliga can be attributed to several factors too. Firstly, the audience for the Spanish league is increasingly favoring community casters over official channels. Additionally, even top streamers are experiencing a decline in audience reach. For instance, ibai's peak viewership for Superliga broadcasts decreased by 17% compared to last year. It's important to note that ibai himself isn't losing viewership; rather, his audience is simply paying less attention to Superliga. For comparison, ibai's peak viewership during LEC increased by 46.5% compared to last spring. Thus, Ibai gathers approximately twice as many viewers during LEC broadcasts compared to Superliga.

Fans of Karmine Corp are willing to watch kamet0's streams in any league, whereas ibai's fans prefer to watch matches in top leagues specifically. It's also important to emphasize that the statistics for LFL and Superliga are highly dependent on the performance of specific teams. If Gentle Mates and Karmine Corp Blue had performed poorly in the group stage of LFL, while Movistar KOI had advanced further in the playoffs, the difference in audience reach between the two leagues could have been very different.