LCK suffers from viewership drop amid delayed broadcast and DDoS attacks

LCK Spring Tournament suffers from a decline in viewership after resorting to delayed broadcast amid continued DDoS attacks.

As League of Legends‘ most competitive pro tournament, South Korea’s LCK garners audiences worldwide. Beyond hosting some of the most prolific teams and rosters in LoL’s entire history, LCK is also home to undisputedly the “GOAT” player, Faker. 

However, trouble hit paradise after LCK experienced persistent DDoS attacks, resulting in ping spikes and compromised game integrity. The first instance of a prolonged in-game interruption was in DRX vs. DK, with a technical pause spanning over 40 minutes. 

As the hacking issue is still unresolved, the organization opted to delay its broadcast and refund tickets of live viewers in the LoL Park in Seoul. This decision unfortunately snowballed the issue for LCK, as the league saw a decline in viewership in the delayed broadcast. 

LCK fans are uninterested in pre-recorded matches

Despite the league’s unparalleled charm with its viewers, LCK failed to attract viewers with its pre-recorded broadcasts. According to an Esports statistical report, the league recorded its lowest viewership in the tournament so far, one week into the broadcast shift. 

Thankfully, LCK also had its ace on the table, as fan-favorite T1 played two matches on the league’s fifth-week schedule, which raked in a sizeable audience, albeit lower than the usual T1 crowd. 

Despite the decline in viewership, LCK still dominates the charts of the most-watched Esports events, even outnumbering the audience size of the VCT Americas Kickoff semifinals. 

📆 Top Esports Events from last week by Peak Viewers:

1️⃣ #LCK Spring 2024 – 808K
2️⃣ #VCTAmericas Kickoff 2024 – 592K
3️⃣ #SixInvitational 2024 – 521K
4️⃣ #PGLMajor Copenhagen 2024: EU RMR B – 480K
5️⃣ #VCTPacific Kickoff 2024 – 462K

See more event stats
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