The 2024 World Championship is underway in Europe, marking a major event for professional League of Legends and one of the largest in esports overall. Early matches have already attracted over a million peak viewers, but can this tournament surpass the viewership record set by last year’s championship?
Our projections for the peak audience are based on publicly available data, focusing on streaming platforms like Twitch, YouTube, and AfreecaTV. Chinese platforms are excluded due to a lack of disclosed viewer data, making it difficult to assess their impact.
For context, Riot Games estimated that the 2024 Valorant Championship reached over 3.5 million peak viewers, while Esports Charts, which only gathers data from open sources, reported 1.41 million peak viewers. The discrepancy highlights the difficulty of accurately tracking viewership from Chinese platforms, especially for matches featuring Chinese teams.
Projections
Projections are based on two factors: the teams’ popularity this season and viewership trends from previous World Championships. Popular teams, particularly T1, have historically drawn large audiences. Despite a tough summer season in the LCK, if T1 reaches the grand finals, it could push viewership numbers higher. A grand finals against a European team would likely generate the most engagement due to the tournament’s European location, though North American or Brazilian teams could also attract a solid audience.
If T1 doesn’t reach the finals, a matchup between other top Korean teams like Gen.G and European teams like G2 Esports or Mad Lions KOI would still be favorable for viewership. However, if less popular teams or Chinese teams, with limited viewer data, make it to the finals, the numbers may not be as high.
While the 2024 Championship has had a strong start, beating the 2023 viewership record will be challenging. Last year’s event peaked at 6.4 million viewers during a grand finals in South Korea, featuring fan-favorite T1 on home turf. This year’s factors, such as T1’s struggles, new streaming platforms, and time zone differences, may impact the potential to set a new record. However, the addition of new platforms and streaming channels, like NimoTV and TikTok, could still help boost viewership.