First-ever LCP split shows strong viewership potential in Southeast Asia
The 2025 League of Legends esports season introduced not one but two new regional circuits. In addition to the LTA, which unites North and South America, Riot Games launched the LoL Championship Pacific (LCP), bringing together two of Southeast Asia’s key leagues: the VCS (Vietnam) and the PCS (Taiwan, Japan, Oceania). The season’s first event highlighted the strong viewership potential of matchups between teams from Vietnam and the Republic of China.
While the merger is a completely new concept for the Americas, Southeast Asia took its first steps toward unifying regional competitions back in 2023, when the top teams from Oceania’s LCO began joining the PCS playoffs. By the 2024 season, Japan was also integrated into the playoff structure, significantly raising the level of competition: Fukuoka SoftBank HAWKS emerged as a strong contender, consistently challenging Taiwan’s top teams and finishing as playoff runners-up twice.
Vietnam is now joining the fold as one of the most promising regions for League of Legends esports viewership. The local audience had been steadily growing since the late 2010s, but the Coronavirus pandemic temporarily stalled its momentum. Strict restrictions led to event cancellations, and local teams were unable to compete in international tournaments like the Mid-Season Invitational and Worlds. But since 2022, things have steadily improved. By 2024, the VCS had reached record-breaking viewership, making this expansion into the broader Southeast Asian circuit perfectly timed.
Unlike the LTA, which features region-wide tournaments only in the first and third splits of the season, the LCP maintains a unified competition structure throughout the entire year. Before the season began, the biggest competition was anticipated to be between the PCS powerhouses and Fukuoka HAWKS. However, the Vietnamese teams, particularly Vikings Esports, made a strong impression. Vikings came close on two occasions to reaching the grand final, first through the upper bracket and then through the lower bracket, but unfortunately, no upsets occurred.
In the end, it was an all-Taiwanese final, where CTBC Flying Oyster emerged victorious. They will now represent the region at the new international tournament, First Stand 2025.
LCP viewership statistics
As anticipated, the biggest viewership boost came from Vietnam, with local teams driving the most significant audience spikes. The most popular team from Vietnam attracted 24% more Average Viewers than the top team from any other country.
The most excitement came from the upper bracket final, where Vikings faced off against CTBC Flying Oyster, the eventual champions. Prior to this match, Vikings had already taken down Fukuoka HAWKS and the formidable TALON. In the end, the decisive winner’s match reached a peak of over 261,000 concurrent viewers: 30,000+ more than the second most-watched match of the event.
Looking for more detailed stats on LCP Split 1, including team data, broadcast languages, and top channels? Get access to this information at an excellent price: just search for your desired event and explore our range of data packages!
Unfortunately, the Grand Final didn’t deliver in terms of audience excitement. The final clash was between the dominant teams from last PCS season, and with all the Vietnamese teams eliminated, the tournament experienced a noticeable drop in viewership. The deciding match drew only 110,000 concurrent viewers, 58% fewer than the event’s most hyped matchup.
Note: statistics do not account for data from Chinese streaming services due to the specific way they track viewership actvity
Overall, the event delivered solid audience figures, though the gap between Vietnam’s massive fanbase and other Southeast Asian countries was still noticeable, especially when comparing peak and average viewership of the entire event. On average, the event maintained 86,700 concurrent viewers every five minutes, which is even slightly less than the LTA North.
In terms of viewership, LCP generally lagged behind LTA, which itself didn’t achieve optimal numbers. This outcome is somewhat expected, considering Brazilian fans are typically more engaged than their Vietnamese counterparts during domestic league matches: despite being eliminated in the first round of the Cross-Conference, Brazilian teams still attracted a substantial audience during the LTA South matches.
The LCP season will resume in April, but before that, CTBC will compete at First Stand, where they'll face Hanwha Life Esports, Team Liquid, and the winners of LPL and LEC. First Stand kicks off soon, with the first matches set for March 10.
Ayrıntılı Esports verileri parmaklarınızın ucunda.
Abone olmak & keşfetmeye başlayın!
