The LCK is without a doubt one of the most fascinating and entertaining regions to watch. Fans knew they would witness a hit series when Gen.G and T1 squared off last week. Gen.G won the LCK Spring Finals, but more significantly, it attracted record-breaking viewership, the largest we’ve ever seen in an LCK final.
With the finals taking place at the Jamsil Indoor Gymnasium, Gen.G and T1 brought a total of 1,463,312 concurrent viewers according to Esports Charts, breaking the previous record of 1.37 million viewers which was achieved last year, once again by Gen.G and T1.
Even though Gen.G won the series, T1 played a major role in boosting the numbers. According to Esports Charts, the five most-watched series of the LCK 2023 Spring Split all included Faker’s team:
- T1 vs Gen.G – Spring Final – 1,463,312 viewers
- T1 vs KT Rolster – Upper Bracket Semifinals – 1,078,018 viewers
- T1 vs Gen.G – Upper Bracket Final – 932,341 viewers
- T1 vs Dplus KIA – Spring Final – 726,165 viewers
- T1 vs Gen.G – Week 5, Day 5 – 719,988 viewers
The average viewership for 2023 LCK Spring (234,198) also went up by approximately 10,000 compared to Summer 2022 (224,220, according to Esports Charts), proving that the Korean region is performing well and doing a great job at keeping the fan base engaged.
This marks a diverging trend with the Western world, where the LCS is struggling with decreasing viewership for the sixth consecutive split, while the LEC is maintaining similar numbers to the 2022 season, with similar average viewership between LEC Winter 2023 and LEC Spring 2022 (according to Esports Charts).
With both Gen.G and T1 going to MSI in London next month, their presence will definitely raise interest in the first international tournament of the year. In 2022, the average viewership was 588,187, with a peak number of 2,194,104 (according to Esports Charts), achieved in the finals between T1 and RNG. Considering the new format for MSI, League fans will get more teams and more action, with a high chance of breaking all previous records.
The Mid-Season Invitational will begin with the play-in stage on May 2.