LFL continued EMEA domination in 2024 as Prime League rapidly caught up to the Superliga

Loading

Before the focus of the League of Legends community entirely shifts to the season-end Worlds 2024 event, it’s worth taking a look at the minor EMEA circuits for the esports title. The 2024 second-tier of competition in the region saw a viewership shift, with many leagues noticing a considerable viewership drop compared to last year. A handful of circuits improved their viewership compared to the previous year, both at the top and bottom end of the numerous leagues.

Generally, viewership decreased for the circuits this year. The past two years have seen many of EMEA’s circuits record strong viewership, but this has begun to slow as things settle back down. Many of the top-performing EMEA circuits, the LFL (France) and Superliga (Spain), for example, recorded record-setting viewership with the help of popular community casters in the past two years. For both of these top circuits, 2024 brought less watch time than the past year. 

While the LFL and Superliga remain EMEA’s top-performing circuits by total watch time, they received fewer Hours Watched this year than last. The Prime League (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) was not only the largest circuit to record a positive watch time dynamic this year, but also the fastest-growing circuit by Hours Watched in all of EMEA. Other circuits such as the GLL (Greece and Cyprus), EBL (Balkans), and Elite Series (Benelux) were also able to record an increase in watch time this year.

Critically, the Superliga is on track to be overtaken by the Prime League, although the silver-lining is no other circuit appears to be catching them. The Spanish circuit experienced record-setting viewership with Ibai in the past. The Spanish esports caster turned internet celebrity hosted hundreds of thousands of Spanish-speaking League of Legends fans on his channel before, but this year, viewership of both the official broadcast channels and ibai’s broadcasts fell significantly. The circuit’s downturn is not due to co-casters moving on from the circuit, but rather viewers not being as excited about the LVP Superliga. 

In terms of Peak Viewers, the LFL was actually able to increase its peak compared to 2023, and set a new viewership record for the event series. Although fans were not as consistent throughout the season overall, the peak excitement reached during the event’s playoff stage was higher than ever before. While the tournament’s viewership has been supported by popular community casters Kamet0 and Gotaga, the event’s official broadcasts were also watched by tens of thousands of fans. 

Apart from the French circuit, the Prime League was the next-fastest-growing circuit by peak viewership. The DACH region event series has enjoyed a smaller but still considerable community caster effect. These DACH co-casters, like HandofBlood, are popular but not as influential as creators like Ibai or Kamet0. The Prime League has not seen its viewership explode as the LFL and Superliga have, but its consistent viewership growth could be more maintainable in the coming years.

Moving on from the top end, the smaller circuits that experienced peak viewership growth were the same ones that achieved minor watch time growth: GLL, EBL, and Elite Series. These circuits enjoyed a minor boost to their viewership from community casters, with each regional event receiving about a quarter of their peak viewership from co-casting.

Generally, viewership was on a downward trend for the EMEA minor circuits in 2024, but the past couple of years have been particularly strong. Most circuits are settling in their viewership, and a rare handful like the LFL and Prime League are showing they have room to still grow in the coming years.