League of Legends’ EMEA Masters Summer 2023, which took place from August 14th to September 8th, saw a significant increase in peak viewers compared to the tournament’s last edition.
According to data platform Esports Charts, the EMEA Masters Summer 2023 saw a total of around 296,000 peak viewers tune in, up from EMEA Masters Spring‘s figure of 108,000.
The recently-concluded split saw almost three times the number of viewers than Spring 2023. When looking at Esports Charts’ statistics, this is largely due to the fact that Karmine Korp, a popular French organisation, took part in the tournament and eventually won it. The finals were also played in France, adding to the popularity of the event.
The event also saw an increase in average viewers to 65,000 compared to 42,000 in Spring, and 1.5m more total hours watched than the Spring edition. When it comes to numbers, Summer was more popular by all metrics.
Compared to Summer 2022, the numbers are similar, but the 2023 edition did perform slightly better in terms of viewership. Last year saw 280,000 peak viewers and 60,000 average viewers across its 94 hour air time.
As stated, Karmine Corp’s regional popularity helped propel the second-tier European tournament in Summer 2023. The organisation was the most-watched team of the tournament, generating 2.4m hours. The other finalist, Spanish organisation Movistar Raiders, amassed 1.4m.
What is even more impressive is the fact that the top five most-watched matches of the tournament were all played by Karmine Corp. Another French team, GO, was the third most-watched organisation and its match with Karmine Corp was the second most-watched of the tournament.
As expected, the most-watched language was French, with 156,000 peak viewers, followed by Spanish with 81,000 and English coming up third with just over 32,000.
The EMEA Masters is an official tournament series for League of Legends in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The event sees teams from regional leagues compete for a prize pool of €150,000 (~£128,000). The tournament is known for its interesting matchups and upsets, and is well-regarded among smaller teams and organisations, some of which have managed to gain large numbers of regional followers and sponsors.
The large growth in viewers goes to show just how much can a single team affect the viewership of a tournament. This is the fourth EMEA (EU) Masters win for the French team.
