LEC viewership plunges during first week of 2023 Winter Split

The first week of the 2023 LEC Winter Split is over, but despite a new format, viewership isn’t looking good.

The peak viewers during the first week of the European competition reached 454,630 viewers, according to Esports Charts. And while it could have been far worse, it was much lower than the peak viewers during last year’s opening week of the LEC Spring Split. In 2022, the first week of the LEC season peaked at 527,567 viewers.

Over the course of the last three days, it was KOI and Excel’s clash that boasted the highest viewership. While both teams can be considered top squads, the match also had an interesting storyline with Odoamne facing off against his former team.

Last year, it was also Excel’s clash that accumulated the most viewers during the first week of the LEC Spring Split—that time against G2. Caps and co typically bring in plenty of viewers to their matches, and the case was no different this time. The European El Classico between G2 and Fnatic boasted 434,000 viewers over the weekend, according to Esports Charts.

The drop in viewership could be thanks to the new schedule. The LEC is now played from Saturdays to Mondays, while last year it was run from Friday to Saturday.

Update: the original version of the article stated that Odoamne had a personal vendetta against KOI based on one of his latest interviews, but it was deleted after clarification.