League of Legends in North America is in a rough spot, according to 100 Thieves CEO Nadeshot.
The founder of the organization believes that there aren’t many new players who put in the work to become the best in the region, he said in 100T’s Podcast on April 12. “League of Legends is just tough right now,” he claimed.
“When you ask a 16-year-old kid what’s the first game they play when they get home from school […] you poll 100 16-year-olds, I would say maybe five of them are going home out of those 100 and go play League of Legends,” Nadeshot explained.
100T’s founder added since League has been around for more than 10 years now, there aren’t many new players coming into the game and focusing on getting better at it. This influences the North American esports scene, which doesn’t have enough talent to pick from and build on.
“North American interest around the game, I just don’t think it’s that high,” Nadeshot added.
The former Call of Duty pro outlined his take in response to the tumbling LCS viewership numbers. The latest grand final of the 2023 LCS Spring Split between Cloud9 and Golden Guardians had 271,000 viewers tune in during its peak.
Low viewership numbers again naturally sparked discussion about the state of the competition, especially with the shift of broadcast days for LCS from Saturday and Sunday to Thursday and Friday.
The LCS will return with the 2023 LCS Summer Split, which begins on June 1. Before that, two North American teams will represent the region at Mid-Season Invitational 2023.
Published: Apr 13, 2023 03:27 am