LCS Summer 2024, the final ever LCS split, concluded over the weekend with the event showing a slight increase in viewership across most metrics compared to last year.
The event had a peak of just slightly over 260,000 viewers and 94,900 average viewers, according to esports data platform Esports Charts. This is around 40,000 more peak viewers and a 20,000 increase in average viewers than the LCS Summer 2023.
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The finals saw FlyQuest win its first-ever LCS title against Team Liquid. Unsurprisingly, the Grand Final was also the most viewed match of the tournament, attracting a peak of 260,753 viewers. This season of the LCS had its overall air time decreased from around 150 hours to 105 hours, and the total hours watched decreased by 1.8m from 11.8m to around 10m hours. FlyQuest, the winners of the split, were also the most popular team, with 4m hours watched.
The Summer 2024 split was the last in the current format of the LCS, a league that has struggled with popularity and viewership for several years now. The fact that this split, while more popular than the last, is only the 14th most popular LCS split in terms of viewership tells a much bigger story.
The LCS underwent several rounds of important changes in 2024, including changing its broadcast timing from workdays to weekends. The league also appointed Mark Zimmerman as its new Commissioner, changed to a best-of-three format and saw Evil Geniuses and Golden Guardians depart the competition.
The league will also see more notable change in 2025, when it will be merged with CBLOL and LLA into a pan-American league to boost viewership and its popularity with viewers. This is part of a broader merging of regions for Riot Games, which also affected several regions in Southeast Asia and Oceania.
Lastly, this was the last season with a two-split format. Riot Games has decided to use the system currently in the LEC, with three splits and a separate finals event, for the LCS in 2025. With the LEC viewership improving, this might also positively reflect on the LCS next year.
