LEC finals generated over £4m in revenue for city of Malmö

The Swedish city of Malmö, where LEC 2022 Summer Playoffs partially took place this year, has revealed in a report that the event generated over SEK 50m in revenue (approximately £4.03m) thanks to tourism to the city. The report also stated that 77% of tourists only visited the city for the LEC finals.

The Malmö Arena, where the semifinal losers’ bracket and finals took place between September 10-11, had to increase its capacity to 19 600 seats. All those were sold out, and 85% of visitors attended the event on both days.  

Statistics

The report also indicates that more than 98% of the visitors were under the age of 35. This is a notable statistic because according to a report made in 2017, the average audience age of every large American sport was above 40.

The report also states that the majority of the event’s audience are those who either work or study in the technological field. The audience that came to the city for the LEC finals were from 30 different countries and half of them were international visitors, with most visitors mostly from neighboring Denmark and Germany. 10% of the visitors were from the UK.

Alberto Guerrero, the Director of EMEA Esports at Riot Games said: 

“The LEC continues to be Europe’s leading eSports brand, consistently setting the industry standard for both broadcast and live in-arena shows. We continue to ensure that our live finals events not only provide an incredible experience for fans, but provide value both financially and culturally to our partner cities that help bring these events to life. We look forward to continuing to bring our live shows to fans across the EMEA region and working with our incredible partner cities to replicate the success we saw in Malmö and put League esports on the map across our region.”

Future

Overall, the tournament can be considered a success and the statistics will surely delight the Riot Games executives who plan to host the second largest League of Legends tournament — Mid Season Invitational — in London next year. This will mark the first time MSI will be hosted in UK. 

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