LEC Winter 2024 just started, already marks new record in league’s group stages history

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New esports season of LEC kicked off on January 13th, featuring the debut of the French team Karmine Corp in the league. League of Legends fans have already demonstrated their enthusiasm during the broadcasts — LEC Winter 2024 showed a much better start than last year. Particularly noteworthy is the increased streaming statistics in French and Spanish, largely thanks to the community casting efforts of kamet0 and ibai.

Hard season start for Karmine Corp

The start of LEC Winter 2024 was intense, especially for the French teams. Karmine Corp and Team Vitality began the season with three defeats each, while SK Gaming led the overall standings with 3-0 stats. Karmine's debut was particularly challenging — in the first three rounds, the French club played against Fnatic, G2 Esports, and MAD Lions KOI.

The first week of LEC Winter 2024 finished with 741.4K Peak Viewers. This is 33,5% more than the best result for the entire LEC Winter 2023 season. Also a new record for the LEC regular stages — only the playoff matches attracted more viewers.

Broadcasts in French have grown the most — from 90.6K to 255K Peak Viewers. Undoubtedly, this is the result of Karmine Corp joining the league, as well as the community casting efforts of its owner, Kamet0, a popular French streamer. During the first week, he attracted 185.2K Peak Viewers.

#LEC Winter Opening Day: 2024 ???? 2023

2023
- Top Match: #KOI vs @TeamBDS
- Peak Viewers: 422K
- Average Viewers: 299K

2024
- Top Match: @KarmineCorp vs @FNATIC
- Peak Viewers: 617K (????+46%)
- Average Viewers: 376K (????+26%) pic.twitter.com/pvzDzwalnd

— Esports Charts ???????? (@EsportsCharts) January 14, 2024

As for Spanish-language broadcasts, they increased from 139K to 242.8K Peak Viewers. This growth was mainly attributed to streams by ibai (225.8K PV during week 1). The channels of kamet0 and ibai, in particular, emerged as leaders of co-casting in regards to peak viewership during the first week of the winter season. This is underscoring the significant impact of community casting on the league's overall statistics. 

New format and participants in LEC

Riot Games has created a new format for LEC Winter 2024. Previously, participants played through three stages — the round-robin stage, the group stage, and the playoffs. This year, organizers decided to forgo the group stage in favor of more playoff matches — featuring eight teams in a double-elimination bracket. The new format aims to be more comprehensible and engaging for viewers, involving more elimination matches.

There were some changes in the lineup as well. As OverActive Media acquired KOI and Movistar Riders, MAD Lions are now performing under MAD Lions KOI tag. Astralis has exited the league, selling its slot to Karmine Corp. A slight rebranding also occurred with Excel Esports, announcing a merger with Giants and now competing under the tag GIANTX.

The arrival of Karmine Corp in LEC was a highly anticipated boost for league viewership. The French team boasts a massive following of dedicated fans who eagerly follow Karmine's matches across various disciplines. Karmine garners a huge audience in broadcasts for LFL and EMEA Masters in League of Legends, undoubtedly establishing itself as one of the most popular esports clubs in Europe.

In other aspects, the LEC remained unchanged. In the winter season, participants will fight for one slot at the Mid-Season Invitational 2024 and a ticket to the LEC Finals. The prize pool also remains the same. The LEC Winter 2024 matches will conclude on February 18, with the finals taking place at the Riot Games Arena in Berlin. You can follow the tournament's progress on the live coverage page.