T1 is the most watched team
T1 Dominates Worldwide Esports Viewership
By this point everyone knows that T1 is the most popular esports team when it comes to professional League of Legends right? Sure, KOI and Karmine Corp have their huge European fan base, but these do not even tickle the reach that T1 has and that is thanks to the team's dominance and history.
Just looking at the stats on esportscharts shows us how dominant the LCK is in viewership. Not only in Korea, but also on a global level and what team is at the forefront of it all? T1. Looking at viewership numbers one team is in every one of the matches in the top 5 of the LCK.
T1 Most Viewed Esports Team in the LCK
Esportscharts uses data from Twitch, YouTube, AfreecaTV and Facebook for their viewership numbers. This means that we are also going to be getting the numbers of local Korean viewers as well, but even with them these views added the numbers are astounding.
The most viewed match was the most recent LCK semi-final between T1 and DAMWON KIA. Both are very successful franchises with T1 having a history of dominance, while DAMWON KIA tried to establish their own dynasty in the last few years.
So it makes sense that the peak viewership for this 5-game nail biter was over 1-million, right? The second most viewed match clocked in almost 700,000 viewers was T1 vs. Gen.G. Now compare this to the most viewed match of the LEC, which was in Week 8, Day 3 Fnatic vs. Misfits with almost 350,000 viewers.
Sure, you could argue that the LCK game with 1-million views was a playoff game, while the most viewed LEC match was merely a regular season game, so let's compare the LEC semi-finals from spring to the LCK. The semi-finals between G2 Esports and Fnatic reached a peak viewership of 570,000 viewers, but let's be real it's still not as bad as LCS viewership is doing these days.
Peak Viewership Records in the LCK
With the finals taking place on August 28, 2022 between T1 and Gen.G we will likely see even higher viewership numbers with both teams being the clear favorites to represent the LCK at the 2022 League of Legends World Championship.
If you look at the players on both sides of the rift, then it also makes sense why this will be one of the most watched finals. Faker, Peanut, Chovy... these are all household names even for international fans. Two of the best mid laners will face off against one another and one question remains, will Chovy finally take home the LCK trophy or is Faker going to win an eleventh time?