League of Legends developer Riot Games has recently announced that the current Summer Split of the 2019 LEC has recorded the highest viewership figures for any regular season split since 2015.Â
Riot reported in April a record breaking debut split of the LEC, and this recent announcement continues to speak to that success. In the opening three weeks of the league, viewing figures were an impressive 37% higher than this time last year. The amount of people watching the games concurrently is at an average of 136,000.Â
In the statement, head of esports for Europe Alberto “Tiroless” Guerrero thanked the LEC fans for the record breaking split.
“That’s a testament to the dedication of our fans, who tune in every week to see the action unfold as it happens – and there’s still more in store to come.”
The LEC finals take place in Athens, marking the first official League of Legends event in Greece, and Europe will also be the host of the 2019 World Championship later in the year.
The rise will undoubtedly be partly due to huge international victories that LEC teams have achieved. In May of this year, G2 Esports defeated Team Liquid to win the 2019 Mid-Season Invitational, settling themselves up as one of the best teams in the world. At Rift Rivals 2019 LEC teams looked strong against their LCS rivals with strong performances from each of the teams attending.
Alongside international success, the league itself is full of strong teams that make for intense and often entertaining matches. Schalke 04, Splyce and SK Gaming are all strong teams that push the likes of Fnatic and G2 all the way. LEC teams have also shown a willingness to play more unusual combinations and champions that have lead to explosive games.
It’s a significant break from past metas in Europe which were sometimes criticized for being overly slow or careful. The success of G2 as a less restrictive team is no doubt partly responsible for this shift.
Tickets for the LEC Summer Split finals on September 8 and 9 are available here.
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