The final LPL event of the 2024 season has wrapped up, closing the year on a high and maintaining the league’s recent momentum. The regional finals stood out as the second most popular event in this series, which showcases the top Chinese teams.
Note: Data from Chinese live-streaming platforms isn’t included due to discrepancies with typical concurrent viewers statistics, making it unreliable for comparison with other data services.
LPL Summer 2024 Viewership
The summer split ran from June 1 to August 30 across multiple Chinese venues. With a new format introduced, audiences were eager to see how it would unfold. The event concluded as one of the more successful ones in the series, reinforcing the positive trends set by the spring split.
The 2024 summer split saw all 17 teams from the spring season compete for a $580,000 prize pool. Tournament featured a Group Stage, Rumble Stage, and the new ‘Fearless Draft’ in the Group Stage, where teams were categorized into four pots based on previous season results.
Bilibili Gaming clinched its second consecutive LPL trophy, defeating Weibo Gaming 3-0 in the Grand Final. Besides securing the championship, Bilibili Gaming earned $275,000 and a spot in the Swiss Stage of the 2024 World Championship. The team also became the fourth to win both splits in a year, with knight making history as the first player to win four consecutive titles.
The LPL Summer 2024 peaked at 208K concurrent viewers during the finals, outperforming other games by 64%. With the losing finalist in its first series final, the audience was highly engaged.
Basic Viewership Stats and Top Matches:
- The split achieved 11.3M hours watched and 33.2K average viewers over 341 hours.
- A Rumble Stage match between JD Gaming and Bilibili Gaming was among the top five most popular matches, attracting just over 100K peak viewers.
- Another team made three appearances in the top matches due to its extensive game count, including extra matches from the lower bracket, which maintained high viewer interest.
The summer split was broadcast on more channels than before, including international content creators like Caedrel, Baiano, and Iwdominate. English viewership grew by 2.5%, while Portuguese viewership declined by a similar margin. This increase indicates a broader global reach for the league.
Most Watched Tournaments in LPL History
The LPL Summer 2024 became the seventh most-watched and ninth most popular tournament in the league’s history. Both the summer and spring splits of this year made it into the top ten all-time lists, with the spring split holding fourth place in both categories.
The LPL is poised to surpass its LCS counterpart in viewership again, though it still trails behind other major leagues like those in Vietnam, EMEA, Brazil, and Korea. With its growing reach, these leagues will need to keep an eye on China’s progress.
LPL Regional Finals 2024 Recap
The Regional Finals, which determined the final teams for the World Championship, performed well compared to previous editions. LNG Esports and Weibo Gaming secured their spots in the Swiss Stage. JD Gaming, a longstanding favorite, did not qualify, though their matches were among the most popular. The Lower Bracket Final against Weibo Gaming attracted 238.7K peak viewers, 58.3% higher than the next-best match.
Popular Matches and Viewership Stats:
- JD Gaming’s game against Weibo Gaming became the second most popular in Regional Finals history, making the 2024 event the second-most popular iteration ever.
- The Upper Bracket Final between Weibo Gaming and LNG Esports, however, was less popular due to a one-sided contest.
LPL 2024 vs. LPL 2023 Viewership
The last two LPL seasons have seen stable viewership numbers, with 2024 showing improvement over 2023. This year, the league surpassed the peak concurrent viewership of the LCS for the last split of 2023 and the first split of 2024. The LCS Summer 2024 is currently on track to fall behind its Chinese rival for a third consecutive time.
Overall, the LPL achieved 26.4M hours watched, 292K peak viewers, and 368K average viewers over 719.5 hours, showing growth of 6%, 1.25%, and 12.67% respectively from the previous year. This rise is partly due to the addition of new streaming platforms like CHZZK and Trovo, increasing global exposure.
The successful split, with its new format, offered fans more engaging games and variety. As China aims to reclaim international success, the performance at the 2024 Worlds will be keenly watched.
