The LCS ended its 2021 Spring Split regular season this weekend with a fizzle on its main Twitch channel after most of the league’s major playoff implications were already resolved.
Of the top six spots in the standings reserved for the playoffs, only one was in question with Evil Geniuses and Immortals competing for the final spot. While some seeding was left to be determined, things weren’t nearly as tight as last year when second and eighth place in the league were separated by just two games at the end of the season.
Overall, the lack of competitive interest to end the season likely played a part in the LCS’ main Twitch channel experiencing its lowest average viewership of the 2021 Spring Split. Across 20.6 hours of live coverage, the main LCS channel averaged 58,971 viewers, totaling 1.21 million hours watched, according to stats acquired by SullyGnome.
Compared to the final weekend of the Spring Split in 2020, the LCS’ main Twitch channel was down an average of around 10,000 viewers. In 15.5 hours of air time, the league averaged 69,046 viewers last year, totaling 1.07 million hours watched.
Viewership during the final week last year also included four tiebreaker matches that were used to determine the final spot in the playoffs, as well as seeding.
The year-over-year decline of the LCS’ main Twitch channel has been a trend for the league all season after Riot made numerous scheduling changes. While the league saw stronger viewership for games played on Friday this year relative to matches played on Mondays last year, that was about the only area in which the league’s main Twitch channel saw improvement during the spring regular season.
Condensing the schedule to six weeks, as opposed to the nine weeks the league played last year, jam-packed games in a way that made it difficult to consume all that the league was offering.
Meanwhile, the Lock In tournament held directly prior to the Spring Split stole some of the league’s early-season hype that could’ve boosted viewership in the first couple of weeks of the season.
The main LCS channel isn’t the only place where live coverage of the league can be viewed, though. While viewership figures couldn’t be found from YouTube, the LCS also streams its games on the platform.
In addition, the LCS allows co-streaming for members of its partner program and LCS/Academy teams. This was a practice that was started last year for the same groups of content creators.
Make sure to follow us on YouTube for more esports news and analysis.
