NLC Winter 2025 Surpasses LFL and Superliga in Viewership fueled by Los Ratones
NLC Winter 2025 had an incredible start, setting the bar for all regional League of Legends leagues in the EMEA Masters system. On day one, it broke its own viewership records, surpassing its previous best by more than 10 times. The surge in viewers can be credited to Los Ratones, a new European team featuring some of the most popular League of Legends streamers.
In the past, NLC struggled to gain traction with viewers, especially when compared to the French LFL or Spanish Superliga. The league’s most popular season had an average of under 4,000 viewers, with a peak of just 14,023 PV during NLC Summer 2022. But the entry of Los Ratones has completely changed the league’s landscape.
Los Ratones was founded in November 2024 by Marc Robert ‘’Caedrel’’ Lamont, a well-known British League of Legends streamer and community caster. The team earned a spot in the NLC after the league expanded its format, adding Swedish streamer Simon ‘’Thebausffs’’ Hofverberg and former pro players Tim ‘’Nemesis’’ Lipovšek, Juš ‘’Crownie’’ Marušič, and Martin ‘’Rekkles’’ Larsson to the roster. While these players have long been fixtures in the LEC and even competed on the international stage, Los Ratones is more of an entertainment-focused project, with little ambition to compete globally. These players are past their competitive peak and are now more focused on streaming.
On the first day of NLC Winter 2025, five matches were played, including two featuring Los Ratones — the streamer team beat NORD Esports and Lundqvist Lightside. Both games attracted massive audiences, with the Los Ratones vs. NORD Esports match hitting a peak of 177,121 viewers, setting a new all-time league record.
Los Ratones’ matches drew an insane number of viewers, as all team members were streaming the games on their own channels. Additionally, the games were cast by Caedrel, who became one of the most popular community casters in League of Legends by the end of 2024. Some NORD Esports players also streamed the matches, including Frederik ‘’NoWay’’ Hinteregger, a popular League of Legends streamer from Germany.
The strong debut of NLC Winter 2025 unexpectedly revealed a new model for the esports scene to viewers and the community. While players in this league don’t compete in major international tournaments like MSI or Worlds, and aren’t facing off against stars from Korea or China, the league is still thriving and drawing huge audiences.
Los Ratones is not the only team to bring former players to NLC Winter 2025 with many who have, for various reasons, lost their spots in the top leagues and are now "playing for fun." Some of the big names in NLC Winter 2025 include Luka ‘’Perkz’’ Perković, Marcin ‘’Jankos’’ Jankowski, Lucas ‘’Santorin’’ Larsen, Raymond ‘’kaSing’’ Tsang, and Rekkles. These players once competed in the top leagues of North America and Europe, but now they're either inactive or retired. Having these stars in the league has drawn in both community casters and viewers.
In terms of debut viewership, NLC Winter 2025 outshone all the leagues in the LFL series and nearly every league in the Superliga (with the exception of LVP Superliga Spring 2022). No season of the Prime League has ever attracted as many viewers as NLC Winter 2025 did on its first day. Even the launch of the franchised American LCS Summer 2024 fell short, despite featuring pro teams representing the region at World Championships.
It looks like NLC Winter 2025 could be another successful esports event, drawing a huge audience with its entertainment value. You can track the viewership results of NLC Winter 2025 on the Esports Charts report page.
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