Last week, the League of Legends European Championship concluded its 2024 Winter Split and left a resounding mark on the league’s history.
In an announcement on its social media account, the LEC highlighted a 30 percent increase in its Average Minute Audience compared to the previous year’s Winter Split. Throughout the Split, multiple records for peak viewership were broken, with a few hyped-up matches attracting more fans than usual. But the Director of League of Legends Esports EMEA, Maximilian Peter Schmidt, attributed this Split’s success to a combination of factors.
The introduction of a new format last year, ongoing improvements in co-streaming both remote and on-site in the brand new Riot Games Arena in Berlin, and the emergence of new competitive teams and growth of existing ones are just some of the factors that supported the success of the LEC at the beginning of 2024. The EMEA LoL Esports ecosystem, featuring amateur circuits and European Regional Leagues, played a vital role in nurturing local talent and fostering communities, according to Schmidt.
He then emphasized how the “successful viewership” seen in the LEC this Winter Split has been “years in the making.” This result was achieved despite the substantial layoffs by Riot Games at the beginning of January, which also affected LEC production causing a few broadcast issues throughout the Winter Playoffs.
But the arrival of Karmine Corp and the new roster, map, and format added to the excitement, contributing to the overall increase in viewership. Ultimately, the overall landscape and changes to the league have produced the best LEC Split in league history, as said by Schmidt.
The LEC Winter Split 2024 stands as a testament to the growth of the League of Legends esport scene in the EMEA region, marked by record-breaking viewership. But, as the gaming industry continues to scale down its commitments in the first quarter of the year, the LEC will start facing the true challenge of keeping the positive momentum, and only the comprehensive annual figures will provide a thorough assessment of the state of fan engagement and viewership with the league.
