The League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) kicked off its 2025 season this past weekend, with its Winter Split viewership numbers lower than its 2024 edition.
The most popular match was Karmine Corp versus Movistar KOI, with peak viewership reaching 591,961, according to data platform Esports Charts.
The French team continues to show its strong influence in engagement, with Karmine Corp also the second most-watched series of the week against G2 Esports (546,283).
Despite decent opening viewership figures, the 2025 Winter Split is significantly lower than last year’s opening week match-up between MAD Lions KOI and G2 Esports, which recorded 741,000 viewers.
Four of the top five Winter Split 2024 matches also occurred in the opening week, with figures varying from 619,000 to 741,000.
After first introducing co-streaming opportunities in 2023, the 2025 LEC season continues to show the increasing importance of community casters. Esports personality Marc ‘Caedrel’ Lamont led the rankings in this category, peaking at over 100,000 viewers and an impressive average of 73,285 during LEC’s opening week, according to Esports Charts.
Popular French streamer and Karmine Corp co-owner Kamel ‘Kamet0’’ Kebir also streamed his team’s matches during the opening week.
These viewership numbers have been achieved without the involvement of Movistar KOI’s co-owner content creator Ibai ‘ibai’ Llanos, a highly popular figure who has previously streamed LEC games.
Ibai won’t be part of the LEC Winter Split 2025 co-streaming lineup following his decision to take a break following the end of the League of Legends 2024 World Championship.
However, the average viewership for the LEC 2025 Winter Split was 292,391, confirming strong engagement at the start of the new season. In comparison, the average viewership during the Winter Split of 2024 was 337,367, but this includes playoff matches, which usually drive higher numbers.
The Winter Split of the LEC was first introduced in 2023 as the third official split in the LEC season, becoming the first major region to do so.
Starting this year, the winner of the Winter Split will represent the European region at the newest international tournament, the First Stand, which will take place in South Korea later this March.
