Is the LCS dying?
The LCS is Losing Viewers to Other Regions
With numerous strategies trying to avoid the inevitable, LCS keeps losing their viewers. So what is happening to the North American region?
Now that the regular season is coming to an end in the different regions, Esports Charts publicly came out with the current statistics of LoL regional leagues, which showed LCS below all the major regions in the League of Legends scene and even below the Brazilian League, CBLOL.
Average Viewers - LCK on Top
According to Esport charts, LCK has the highest amount of average viewers from all the major regions, with 192.2K. Following the LCK comes the LEC with 172K average viewers. The North American League, on the other hand, finds itself in fifth place with under half of LEC's average viewers.
Even though the LCS is close to the CBLOL in the ranking, the Brazilian league is above North America by all the essential metrics; average viewers, hours watched, and peak viewers.
Former LCS Pro Brings Up the Issue
Despite the news about the low amount of LCS viewers being brought up just recently, many were aware of the issue before it came out in exact numbers. For example, while talking about a League of Legends event hosted by MrBeast, the former LCS pro-player Doublelift mentioned on his stream that Bjergsen, one of the most famous players in the LCS, was supposed to attend the event but was eventually blocked by Riot and the North-American region.
"Look, guys, LCS is dying" Doublelift said during his stream. He further went on to explain how having such a big player at a League of Legends event could actually be beneficial for the region and that banning Bjergsen from attending was the wrong choice.
Doublelift often co-hosts the LCS on his stream. Still, when he came out with the statement on how LCS is struggling, the North American region decided to ban Doublelift from hosting for a few days, instead of taking the criticism into account.
[Update, August 24, 2022]
Bjergsen has since given a statement on the current LCS viewership. He personally doesn't think that the LCS is dying, but he agrees that there needs to be a change.
The viewership is worrying and is not going to get any better unless there's a big change. Riot is aware and there have been talks about this, about what can be done to help the LCS.
What these changes are? No idea, but we will probably find out soon. The LCS can't continue the way that it's going now for long.
[Original Article]
These Skins Are Pay to Lose
Why is LCS Losing Viewers?
There are different reasons why people decide to stop watching the LCS. One that is often heard is LCS' lack of international success. Even though LEC haven't been as successful as the LCK and the LPL internationally either, they have, at least, been able to compete amongst the best of the best and even found themselves in the World Championship Finals two years in a row.
The LCS might be losing their viewers, but you can avoid losing your game with this Qiyana guide:
The LCS Tries Out New Strategies
The LCS is aware of the issue and has been trying out different strategies to avoid the decline of viewership. One of the newer strategies was first mentioned by Travis Gafford on his Twitter, which noted that the LCK wanted to experiment with live comms on their broadcast. This strategy is something done in Formula 1 and the North American region though this was a feature that could make more League of Legends fans interested in their content.
Why do you think the LCS is struggling with their viewership numbers? Join our Discord and let us know!