The Summer splits of the regional League of Legends circuits are typically the least-watched of the year, and this year is no exception. However, the LEC Summer 2024 has seen increased viewership compared to 2023. This rise is primarily attributed to the growing French-speaking audience for the LEC.
2024 marks the debut of Karmine Corp at the top level of EMEA League of Legends. The team has brought a substantial French fanbase along with Kamet0, one of Karmine Corp’s co-founders. Kamet0, a popular streamer, supports his team by broadcasting their games on his personal Twitch channel, significantly boosting viewership.
The most popular match
The most popular match of the week was Karmine Corp’s game against MAD Lions KOI on the second day, attracting nearly 386K peak viewers. MAD Lions KOI also benefits from the support of ibai, one of the world’s biggest streamers and a former League of Legends caster, who covers their matches and contributes significantly to viewership.
Community casting is crucial for the League of Legends EMEA circuit, despite restrictions on who can host watch parties and co-cast matches. The influence of co-casters like Kamet0 and ibai is evident in the viewership statistics, with both contributing to nearly half of the peak viewership for their teams’ match.
Karmine Corp’s match against Rogue was the second-most popular game, with 366K peak viewers, largely driven by Kamet0’s audience. The only match to surpass 360K concurrent viewers without a star co-caster was G2 Esports versus Team BDS. G2 Esports, with a long-standing history in the LEC, was previously the league’s most popular team.
Team BDS, another team with strong French roots, also enjoys significant support from French fans. Overall, French language viewership for the LEC has grown, with French now being the most important language for LEC viewership after English, surpassing Spanish.
Compared to last year, the 2024 LEC Summer split has been far more successful, with higher peak and average viewership. First week of matches averaged 234.4K viewers, over 60K more than in 2023. The event also generated 3.55M hours watched, an increase of roughly 500K hours from last year. The impact of Karmine Corp and the growth of the French-speaking audience are clear.
Viewership for the early stages of LEC Summer 2024 is rising, and updates on tournament viewership statistics will continue as the matches progress.