A first-time champion, an upset story for the ages, and a remarkable grand final that won’t be forgotten for years. If the LCS has indeed ended for good, it went out with a real bang, as stats today show a sharp uptick in viewership and fan interest following the season’s conclusion on Sept. 7.
FlyQuest’s 3-1 win over the undefeated Team Liquid saw 260,753 viewers tune in, according to Esports Charts, nearly 40,000 more than last year’s championship final between Cloud9 and NRG. It wasn’t just single-game stats that peaked, with average viewership for the split up by 23 percent compared to last year and a peak higher than that of LCS Spring, but it’s not all good news.
Average viewership dropped significantly against the spring split, down by a staggering 30 percent, and the summer split recorded 700,000 fewer viewer hours—all despite the extra 16 hours of broadcast. Numerous factors are at play, but as this was the last championship final before the pan-American League shake-up next year, it’s clear many tuned in to the finals to catch a piece of history in case this really is the end of the LCS.
Many LCS fans were pleased with the broadcast this split and enjoyed everything from the format change-up to the fun content segments between matches—so much so that LEC fans chimed in to express a little jealousy. “As a diehard LEC fan, it pains me to admit but the LCS has just by far been the better product this year,” one said, adding the cutback of “special” content, the tighter schedule, and the budget cuts that came after Riot’s layoffs in January have seen the European league slip behind its American counterpart.
“I really liked the vibe of [the LCS] broadcasts, they were keeping it simple and interesting at the same time, [and] it was very easy to follow,” another fan said. While the LEC viewership count far outpaces that of the LCS, many more appreciated the flow of this split’s broadcast, and a little variety in who took home the trophy certainly helped: G2 has won the last four LEC splits, after all.
However, the question on everyone’s mind is: What will the LCS broadcast look like next year? With the introduction of the twin conferences, a huge change-up in participating teams, and a wholly revamped split schedule and format, it remains to be seen whether the American league can maintain its trajectory into 2025.
