Over the past two years, the LCK has experienced substantial audience growth, with viewership numbers steadily increasing. This surge can largely be attributed to Korean fans, who have been instrumental in boosting the league’s profile. Now, the LCK stands as one of the biggest regional esports leagues outside of global events.
This growth in popularity has led to a significant rise in the league’s value, with multiple platforms vying for the rights to stream its matches. As a result, South Korea’s top-tier League of Legends competition has been broadcast across platforms such as YouTube, Twitch, AfreecaTV, and Naver.
For several seasons, Twitch held a dominant position among Korean viewers. Leading in cumulative watch time during four of the six seasons it streamed LCK matches. However, in 2023, Twitch saw a sharp decline in viewership within South Korea, and after its shutdown in the country earlier this year, audiences migrated to other platforms like YouTube, CHZZK, and AfreecaTV.
Korean fans’ interest in the LCK has only grown in 2024, with the year setting new records for viewership. The competitions from this year now rank as the three most popular in the league’s history. Notably, CHZZK saw a 73% increase in watch time compared to the previous year, while YouTube also witnessed a substantial rise in its audience, nearly doubling its share of the LCK’s cumulative watch time over the past four splits and two regional finals.
The competition between live-streaming platforms has intensified, with YouTube, AfreecaTV, and Naver battling for the largest share of LCK viewers. YouTube emerged as the clear leader in 2024, having only ranked third in 2023. CHZZK finished third in viewership, while Naver saw a significant drop of about 23% in its watch time share, likely due to CHZZK’s rise.
Korean Audience
Korean audiences have proven to be highly discerning, choosing among multiple streaming services for their preferred way to watch the LCK. Their engagement with the league has only increased this year, with a notable rise in Korean-language viewership during all three major 2024 events.
Top esports teams like T1 and Gen.G continue to fuel this growth, drawing large crowds for both local and international matches. The 2024 LCK Spring Finals between these two teams broke records for the highest peak Korean-language viewership in esports outside of the World Championship, and the event came close to reaching 100 million hours watched.
Twitch played a pivotal role in bringing South Korean League of Legends to a global audience, with prominent co-casters like Caedrel, Ibai, and Baiano. Helping the platform maintain its presence among international viewers. Even after Twitch’s decline in Korea, AfreecaTV and CHZZK have taken up the mantle, with streamers like wolf, phonics1, and ishoooo contributing to the league’s high viewership in 2024.
Looking ahead to 2025, YouTube and CHZZK are expected to continue capturing the largest shares of the LCK’s viewership. While AfreecaTV and Naver saw a decline in 2024, they will likely still be contenders for broadcasting rights in the coming year. Riot Games, which typically determines broadcast platforms, will likely make further announcements after the 2024 World Championship, which takes place in Europe from September 25 to November 2.
South Korean fans will be eagerly awaiting the possibility of another showdown between T1 and Gen.G in the finals, a matchup that could challenge the record set by the 2023 event.
