The culminating showdowns of the LFL Spring 2024 and Superliga Spring 2024, which are regional League of Legends tournaments in Europe, occurred on April 4th. Notably, the French league saw a surge in popularity compared to the previous year, while the Spanish league continued to face a decline in viewership. The gap between the two leading contenders from the EMEA Masters circuit has notably widened, with the LFL now surpassing the Superliga by 2-3 times according to certain metrics.
In LFL Spring 2024, Karmine Corp Blue emerged victorious, defeating Team BDS Academy in a final match with a score of 3:1. Interestingly, the most watched match of the league wasn’t the final showdown, but rather the series between Karmine Corp Blue and Gentle Mates during the group stage, which attracted 234.1K Peak Viewers concurrently. Compared to the previous spring season, the French league experienced a 47% increase in peak viewership and a 16% rise in average viewership, with a total watch time uptick of 12%, despite having less airtime than the previous year.
On the other hand, Los Heretics clinched the title of Superliga Spring 2024 by defeating Guasones Team in the decisive match with a score of 3:1. Surprisingly, the grand final failed to make it into the top 15 most popular matches of the season. Instead, the Spanish league’s high-ranking matches were predominantly those featuring Movistar KOI, whose games were covered by its co-owner, ibai. The most viewers were attracted to the Movistar KOI game against ZETA, with just over 89K concurrent viewers. Compared to the previous year, the Superliga Spring experienced a 21% decrease in peak viewership and an 18% drop in average viewership.
LFL Rise
The rise in popularity of LFL in Spring 2024 can be attributed to several factors. Firstly, the entry of Gentle Mates into the league played a significant role. This relatively new French organization, founded by popular French streamers Brawks, Gotaga, and Squeezie, garnered attention swiftly. The presence of Gentle Mates extended beyond League of Legends, with teams competing in other games as well, such as Valorant, Rocket League, and Fortnite. Gotaga’s regular coverage of Gentle Mates’ matches during LFL Spring 2024 substantially boosted viewership statistics.
Secondly, the strong loyalty of Kamet0’s audience was another crucial factor. Despite the main roster of Karmine Corp moving up to the higher-level LEC this year, concerns about attracting a large audience for the academy team, Karmine Corp Blue, in the French league were proven unfounded. Viewership during Kamet0’s community castings increased significantly, showing continued support regardless of the competition’s level.
Superliga Decline
The decline in viewership for Superliga can also be attributed to several factors. Firstly, the audience for the Spanish league increasingly favors community casters over official channels. Additionally, even top streamers like ibai are experiencing a decrease in audience reach for Superliga broadcasts. It’s worth noting that ibai himself isn’t losing viewership; rather, his audience is simply paying less attention to Superliga matches. For comparison, ibai’s peak viewership during LEC increased significantly compared to Superliga.
Fans of Karmine Corp are willing to watch kamet0’s streams regardless of the league, while ibai’s fans prefer to watch matches in top leagues specifically. It’s important to highlight that the statistics for LFL and Superliga are heavily influenced by the performance of specific teams. If Gentle Mates and Karmine Corp Blue had performed poorly in the LFL group stage while Movistar KOI had advanced further in the playoffs, the difference in audience reach between the two leagues could have been very different.