Worlds 2015 Viewership

Riot·Dec 10, 2015·0 votes·143,715 views

After an epic five-week tour through Europe in October for the 2015 World Championships, the numbers are in and we’re able to share details of how many viewers around the world joined us on the journey.

Fans’ response to this year’s 2015 World Championship blew our expectations away, broke records and topped off an amazing year for LoL esports across the globe. From Paris to Berlin and over all stages of the competition, we saw an all-time high of 360 million hours of live esports viewed - nearly doubling 2014’s total hours viewed of 194 million.

Total cumulative daily unique impressions (the amount of unique viewers that tuned in every day via online and television channels) reached 334 million over the four weeks (from 288 million in 2014). In fact, over the course of all 73 games, we saw an average concurrent viewership (ACU) of over 4.2 million, with the average fan watching for well over an hour per viewing session.

For the final between SKT and Koo Tigers in Berlin’s Mercedes-Benz Arena, peak concurrent viewership (PCU - the highest number of fans tuned in at any one point) was 14 million - up from 11 million in 2014. Overall, the unique viewer count for the Final was 36 million - a record-breaking high for any esports event and a climb from last year’s Samsung White-Royal Club matchup at Sangam Stadium which drew 27 million unique viewers.

It’s been an extraordinary, history-making year to be an esports fan and it’s an honor that the dedication and passion of LoL fans has such a significant place within that story. We can’t think of a better way to head into the 2016 season and to celebrate with so many of this year’s key playmakers at the All Star Event this week.

We’ll be announcing more details on our plans for the 2016 World Championship (including where we’ll be headed) within the next few weeks, so stay tuned to Lolesports for all the info.

52 Comments

Death by GlamourDec 10, 201521 votes

The one thing i think we all hated about worlds

We all knew who the winners would be

YCitizenSnipsYDec 10, 201534 votes

guess everybody else should get gud

THE KILLER GUYDec 10, 20157 votes

Logged in to upvote this. Nobody hated worlds for it. This may come as a shock to some, but Korean teams have fans, and not only Korean fans.

YCitizenSnipsYDec 10, 20151 votes

SNSD TiffanyxDec 10, 20155 votes

you mean montecristo?

ninbushidoDec 10, 201511 votes

Are we all Montecristo then?

Death by GlamourDec 10, 20153 votes

We all did know that skt would have took the final.

Only real upset was how bad the chinese teams played

Pope Of NopeDec 10, 20151 votes

And then theres american teams item 3070 we will win......eventually

Death by GlamourDec 10, 20151 votes

Clg and c9 did far better than anyone expected. After the first week c9 were expected to go through.

Sure tsm played bad but honestly few people thought they would leave the group stage.

Count BuffonDec 10, 20154 votes

C9 reverse-sweeping into Worlds and then reverse-sweeping themselves back out again... So many teerz...

Deep Terror NamiDec 10, 20151 votes

Tell that to the guy that lost Championship Riven in the Pick'em because he didn't know XD

Fodder 69Dec 10, 20153 votes

I saw some pretty amazing games! Yeah, it ended up where it would have been predicted, but some amazingly good matches, comebacks and hard fought wins before that!

Damorion215Dec 10, 20155 votes

That's why I didn't even bother watching the Finals. Just another LCK matchup, so fucking boring. The only real competition are the Koreans, who always win, and everyone else is just free money. All the other regions bring no competition at all to LoL, so it just boils down to a stompfest. I doubt Season 6 will be any different.

ninbushidoDec 10, 201511 votes

It shouldn't be about the teams –– it should be about the gameplay, which the Tigers and SKT executed at a much higher level than any other team and made the strategy and team fights so exciting to watch. It's like how I watch the World Cup; just because the best Asian country (Japan) doesn't make it past the round of 32 (I'm Chinese) doesn't mean I stop watching, I stay tuned to watch some really, REALLY good European and South American teams duke it out in some fucking damn good soccer/football. It doesn't matter where the teams are from, it's about the gameplay.

303DevilfishDec 10, 20157 votes

Except even then, SKT made a mockery of KOO. One day i'd like if the finals were actually competitive instead of it being the clear-cut champion vs the team who managed to avoid the clear-cut champion until the finals.

CheeseyBagelDec 10, 20151 votes

[deleted]

Vaj SenseiDec 10, 20153 votes

2002 as in 13 nearly 14 years ago?...

Death by GlamourDec 10, 20152 votes

Not to mention that they allegedly bribed two referees to get ther

Damorion215Dec 24, 20151 votes

It is about the gameplay, but if there is no competitiveness to it, especially if we know who is going to win, then there's no point in watching. I would watch it if there was a different matchup at LEAST every other year, but it hasn't been. For the past 3 years ('13, '14, '15), it's been: KR (SKT) vs. CHN (RYC), KR (SSW) vs. CHN (SHRC), and KR (SKT) vs. KR (GE). I am by all means not saying these guys don't deserve to win, but after awhile, even though their different iterations , it's just the same Asia vs Asia matchup. And it probably still will be for at least the next 5 years because, quite frankly, all the other regions don't care about the game as much, don't practice as much, and therefore, continue to lose.

p0psiclesDec 10, 20151 votes

Yep. You're totally right. LGD/EDG were totally going to win worlds, C9 was going to go 0-6, CLG was going to make it out of the groups. That's why everyone won the Championship Riven skin, right?

JimmyNtheKudosDec 14, 20151 votes

Biggest disappointment for me was FNC. I jumped on their bandwagon in spring season, was super excited to see them make into the finals. Meh...

FekapetaDec 17, 20151 votes

I really don't care about that. They deserved, they practiced, played well and dominated the scenario. That is in a way nice to see. What I would like to see for the first time in life is a worlds without perma-bans or 2 champions played in the jungle.

Dark VoltonOct 4, 20161 votes

Not as bad as 2014 with Samsung White, that is still the stomping of the century, it wasnt even a question who would win that one. Although it was still fun to watch (even though im pretty sure they intentionally threw the 3rd game).

ThatDorkyGuyDec 10, 201510 votes

I thoroughly enjoyed it. 2015 was my first full year following LoL and really playing the game. The fans are amazing. Riot is very transparent and totally looking towards the future. The production team and the casters/analysts were great (and are still great). I look forward to 2016. Well done!

RyuubabyyDec 10, 20153 votes

Honestly you missed out on not being here for previous seasons worlds. They have more hype and better production

ninbushidoDec 10, 20153 votes

Season 3 had the best hype Season 4 had the best production (god bless OGN) Season 5 was sort of a...mix in between.

LunallanDec 10, 20153 votes

Topped NBA finals... Topped WS... Again... and Again! Three years in a row now..

SNSD TiffanyxDec 10, 201510 votes

well NBA is only an american sport, whereas league is a world sport, big difference there

LunallanDec 12, 20152 votes

NBA is being watched around the globe. World's most popular basketball league. People don't just become Spurs' or Heat's fans because they live in Miami or Texas. Spain has only 40 million in population while having a 500 million viewing audience for every el clasico. Sports are never restricted by borders.

FearAzraelDec 10, 20152 votes

Amazing numbers, I am so excited for the future of League of Legends and Esports in general.

GoD KSlayDec 10, 20152 votes

the question is when league going to become an actual sport

AírDec 10, 20152 votes

Actually, League of Legends is already an official sport in the U.S. Although, it was mainly for visa purposes (so that a pro player can come in on an athlete's visa and not have the same issues that CLG had this season). Look it up. ^.^

FionaticDec 10, 20151 votes

is there any way of getting the freljord icon? in s5 or s6?

XyragaDec 10, 20151 votes

World shit show ? The worst match in league of legends was final. Let face it near team play well, both team did retard play 1 team happen to win the games. Show how unskilled these players patches the complete change now the game is played. Hopefully, riot will smart up enough before next worlds. Does NFL complete change now the game is play at the start of it play off ? No it doesn't. In Riot world does, making the tournament a joke, doesn't really show off the skill of the players, it show of who can get lucky enough to find way around the patch first.

OluDec 10, 20156 votes

logged in to downvote

NomNomBunniesDec 10, 20153 votes

Please, go back to the first grade to practice your English writing skills.

AírDec 10, 20155 votes

Do you know how much effort, skill, and intelligence it takes to completely relearn the game from a new patch? Every small thing the patch changes can affect the game as a whole whether directly or through a domino effect. Having the game change over time accomplishes two things: it keeps the game fresh for the general community and its spectators, and it tests the best players in the world to see how fast and how well they can adapt to the game. It shows who the best players truly are. Yes, it is more difficult to stay up at the top, but then one's skill at the time is determined by their proficiency in that meta. How good is the player overall? That is what the shifts in the meta address. If a player is truly the best, he (or she perhaps) will be able to adjust accordingly.

theguyshadowsDec 10, 20151 votes

So... Where were all the people watching from? What sites were they watching from. I always wondered how millions of people were all watching at the same time, yet I would only see like 500k people watching on Twitch.tv at one time.

NaøkiDec 10, 20152 votes

They also hosted the stream on Azubu, Youtube and not sure about other countries, but I'm pretty sure Korea plays eSports on live TV as well. (I feel like I'm missing another streaming website as well.)

punaletDec 10, 20151 votes

Amazing numbers! But would be interesting to see viewership from the different regions. Think OGN had a big part of it. Riot don´t destroy it, pls!

LieblingsjungeDec 10, 20151 votes

I got a question regarding the numbers: How is the 36 million viewers calculated? Do you count e.g. multiple people in one household watching? Or just unique IP-adresses? Would appreciate a response from one of Riot's employees regarding the numbers and their credibility. Or is there any way we can see the raw material, before it's analysed by employees at Riot? (As I'm currently researching for my thesis, the origin of numbers and values means a lot more to me than the actual numbers..)

Penguin EclipseDec 10, 20151 votes

Sounds impressive. But when you think about how 32 million viewers watched the world championship in 2013... it's not really. That means 2014's 27 million was actually a drop. A rise to 36 million isn't all that great for an industry that is supposed to be expericing explosive growth on a global scale and the amount of emphasis you throw at it.

Penguin EclipseDec 10, 20151 votes

Plus a viewer who logs on to watch the game and gets defaulted to Youtube counts as a unique viwer. If that individual switches to Twitch... they get counted as 2 unique viewers. As long as multiple parties stream the games then numbers will be favorably inaccurate.