TL;DR
- LPL achieved record 310K peak viewers during 2020 Summer Finals, up 188% year-over-year
- Total hours watched exploded to 10 million, representing 351% growth from previous year
- Strategic addition of Vietnamese, Korean, and French broadcasts drove international expansion
- Despite Worlds 2020 finals loss, LPL maintained highest average skill level recognition
- Multi-language strategy positions LPL for continued global dominance in 2021
China’s premier League of Legends competition, the LPL, experienced unprecedented international audience expansion throughout 2020, attracting millions of new global viewers to its action-packed matches.
With sixteen elite teams competing, the league established itself as the world’s most fiercely contested professional circuit this year. Chinese organizations secured the World Championship title for two consecutive seasons before Korea’s DAMWON Gaming halted their streak in the 2020 Worlds finals. Even with this setback on the global stage, the LPL’s international viewership metrics demonstrated remarkable growth across all key performance indicators.
We are proud to announce: [LPL Viewership Summer 2020]
-LPL Summer Finals Viewership: 310K (+188%)
-Total Hours Watched (Finals): 10M (+351%)
-New language broadcasts: 3
Thank you for your continued support of the LPL!
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pic.twitter.com/ga5NTuIVlp— LPL (@lplenglish)
November 2, 2020
LPL broadcast is setting new viewership records
Riot Games recently published comprehensive analytics detailing the summer split audience numbers and the extraordinary expansion occurring throughout the season. For the 2020 campaign, Riot introduced Vietnamese, Korean, and French broadcast streams alongside the established English coverage, creating a truly global viewing experience.
This enhanced multilingual approach proved immediately successful, generating a peak concurrent viewership of 310,000 for international broadcasts during the 2020 LPL Summer Split championship match. This represents the highest recorded audience in league history and a staggering 188% surge compared to the previous summer’s final event.
Additionally, the average minute audience metric witnessed identical 188% growth, establishing another unprecedented benchmark. The per-minute viewership consistently surpassed 170,000 spectators throughout the summer championship broadcast.
Most impressively, total viewing hours during the summer season exceeded 10 million, an astonishing 351% increase over the prior year. The strategic international broadcast expansion for the LPL delivered exceptional returns, while the league continued to showcase extraordinary talent and compelling matches for its growing fanbase. The Chinese circuit is widely regarded as possessing the highest collective skill ceiling globally and has drawn countless new enthusiasts during 2020 to witness its high-octane competitive gameplay.
Following their first Summoner’s Cup defeat in two years, LPL squads are expected to demonstrate even greater competitive intensity throughout 2021. The league will persist with its enhancement initiatives as additional supporters join the viewing community, and 2021 could mark China’s resurgence on the international competitive scene.
The LPL will return with its upcoming season, the 2021 LPL Spring Split, commencing early next year.
The strategic timing of these international broadcast expansions couldn’t have been more opportune, coinciding with global lockdowns that drove unprecedented esports consumption. Professional analysts note that the LPL’s production quality and English commentary team have significantly improved, making the viewing experience more accessible to international audiences unfamiliar with the Chinese competitive landscape.
What makes these growth figures particularly remarkable is that they occurred despite the time zone challenges for Western viewers. Matches typically air during early morning hours in North America and Europe, yet dedicated fans still tuned in record numbers, demonstrating the league’s global appeal.
Several critical factors contributed to the LPL’s explosive viewership growth. The league’s reputation for aggressive, skirmish-heavy playstyles creates more exciting viewing experiences compared to methodical, slower-paced regional styles. This ‘bloodbath’ reputation, where teams frequently engage in early-game confrontations, appeals particularly to Western audiences accustomed to similar competitive approaches.
The addition of high-profile international players and coaches to LPL rosters has also broadened the league’s global appeal. When star players from other regions join Chinese teams, they bring their existing fanbases with them, creating natural crossover viewership between competitive circuits.
For organizations looking to replicate this success, focusing on production quality across all language streams is essential. The Vietnamese broadcast, for instance, featured popular local casters who could contextualize the action for their specific audience, creating a more personalized viewing experience that drove engagement and retention.
The LPL’s success demonstrates that strategic international expansion, coupled with consistently high-level competition, can rapidly transform a regional league into a global entertainment product.
Action Checklist
- Analyze peak viewing times across different regions to optimize broadcast scheduling
- Monitor engagement metrics for each language stream to identify growth opportunities
- Research team-specific international fanbases to target content localization
- Evaluate production quality consistency across all language broadcasts
No reproduction without permission：Games Guides Website » LPL coverage saw a big increase in the 2020 LPL Summer Split LPL's explosive 2020 viewership growth reveals strategic global expansion and competitive dominance trends