The decline of LCS viewership: Reasons and possible solutions

The Covid-19 pandemic and all of the lockdowns that came with it might have seemed like the perfect opportunity for a boom in esports viewership. But contrary to expectations, it negatively affected the gaming sector, just like every other part of society. 

The League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) is the highest level of League esports competition in North America and Canada. Despite being the foundation of the League esports in the early 2010s, the LCS has registered a steady decline in the last few years. Apart from Covid, fans and the community have pointed out multiple other factors that negatively affect viewership and engagement surrounding the LCS.

Covid-19

Just like everything in life, Covid affected the gaming industry beyond ways that were imaginable. Having large amounts of free time and being forced to avoid social interaction seemed like the perfect recipe for a boom in the gaming industry. Well, it turned out that not many people were eager to spend their time playing and watching League of Legends.

Meanwhile, the lockdown, restrictions, and financial insecurity that followed caused many people to walk away from gaming and the industry in general. Lots of jobs were lost in the industry and beyond it, and people could no longer afford to sit and watch professional League while being unemployed. Also with North America being the hotspot of entertainment, the average American has arguably access to more interesting stuff to watch than League of Legends. 

Lack of international success

One of the most obvious reasons why most American fans stopped following the regional League scene has been the lack of international success. The last few years in League esports have been dominated mostly by Eastern regions like China and Korea. The only notable results of Western teams came during the 2019 MSI Finals between G2 Esports and Team Liquid, and the 2018 and 2019 World Championship finals appearances of Fnatic and G2. With North American teams struggling to break into the top-four echelon at international events, it’s no wonder domestic interest has dwindled.

Sharp decline of NA esports 

It would be unfair to shoulder most of the blame just on the Covid and performance. Numbers show that NA esports has taken a massive dip since the pandemic broke out, with LCS viewership being down 50% compared to pre-pandemic numbers, and esports are down as much as 90%, according to data by Esports Charts. 

Moreover, the NA CS:GO scene seems to have vanished completely, while Overwatch, Call of Duty, and Rocket League viewership is in the bin. Valorant might be the only exception and the main reason why NA CS:GO has taken a step back, but NA esports, in general, is struggling.

Solo queue environment, playstyle and lack of personalities

The main reason why many players stopped playing league would probably be the Ranked Solo Queue environment. Apart from that, many pro players and personalities in the region have also expressed their discontent with the state of the ranked ladder. Not only game-ruining behaviour goes unpunished, Riot Games has also failed to implement feedback provided by the community. Many would agree that the game feels unenjoyable to play at times, with pros echoing these concerns. The sad state of League Solo Q

Last season’s addition of Champions Queue seemed like a step in the right direction but it too has run into a lot of issues. Fans have also voiced their discontent with how the region has chosen to approach the professional League, with the corporate approach making the fan base feel disconnected from the team instead of being its driving force.

The retirement of North American superstars and the void of personalities being taken up by more and more imports to which the audience can’t relate, is also one of the main concerns. The sentiment is that when the LCS became more of a business, with lots of commercials and breaks between games, no trash talking and storylines between players, and the loss of on-air talent, the product quality dropped and viewership numbers reflect that.

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