The Brazilian League of Legends league, CBLOL, has overtaken its North American counterpart in the LCS in terms of peak and average viewership for the Spring Split.
With the Mid-Season Invitational around the corner, almost every regional League of Legends league has completed its Sping Split.
LCS viewership has been on the decline for a few years. John Needham, President of Esports at Riot Games, acknowledged the dip in engagement in the North American product recently as the league has pivoted to match days during the week and has brought in more co-streamers.
But recent viewership numbers have come out to show that these efforts have not managed to stay this decline in engagment.
LCS viewership surpassed by CBLOL
One surprising outcome of the Spring Split is that the LCS has been surpassed by CBLOL in terms of average and peak viewers over the course of the Spring Spit, according to Esports Charts.
The Brazilian league averaged over 111,000 viewers and have a peak viewership of 276,078 people. The LCS, on the other hand, averaged just over 109,759 viewers and had a peak viewership of 271,376 people.
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The LCS also saw its lowest viewership in the league’s history for the Spring Spit grand final between Golden Guardians and Cloud9, which was the most-watched match of the split, according to Esports Charts.
CBLOL, while not beating out the LCS my much, still overpassed the league possibly because some of Brazil’s most popular esports organizations were in the mix during the playoffs. LOUD, which was selected for league partnership in 2020, and Los Grandes, who bought its way into the league in 2023, both finished in the top four.
CBLOL also had four series pass the 200,000 peak viewer mark for the playoffs, all of which featrured either Loud or Los Grandes, while the LCS ony had two.
Fans will have to wait and see if this trend continues into MSI as the international tournament is set to start on May 2.