The 2022 League of Legends World Championship is the top esports tournament of 2022, having garnered more viewers than any other tournament in all of 2022. Not only was Worlds a huge success, but the LCK, the Korean LoL league was also a top contender in terms of viewership this year.
2022 is coming to a close, and as it does, we reflect on the year in esports. Which teams dominated the different leagues and which tournaments took the cake? Well, according to esports charts, it seems like Riot once again put on a tournament for the ages.
The League of Legends World Championship has been named the most popular esports tournament of 2022 with viewership numbers going through the roof in comparison to their competitors.
LoL Worlds 2022 Was The Most Popular Esports Tournament This Year
Riot might not be perfect when it comes to balancing their game, but they sure know how to put on a show, right? The 2022 League of Legends World Championship encompassed all of October, with the Finals taking place on November 5, 2022, in San Francisco between the Korean squads T1 and DRX.
According to esports charts, the LoL World Championship managed a total of 142 million hours watched. While these numbers are less impressive than those of the 2021 World Championship (viewership was 19% lower in 2022), the figures still eclipse any of the competitors.
Check out the Finals highlights:
The Indonesian MPL Mobile Legends tournaments came in second and third with an average of 80 million hours watched. This just goes to show that the League of Legends World Championship is the prime esports event. Especially because of co-streams, which helped the Finals garner even more viewers, as well as introducing the esport to new fans.
The League of Legends World Championship final between T1 and DRX garnered a peak of over 5-million viewers as well, which is way above the second-place peak viewership which belongs to the MPL Indonesia Season 9 with around 2.8 million in peak viewership.
LCK Garnered More Viewership than MSI in 2022
Another interesting trend that can be depicted from the esports charts data is the trending viewership in hours watched with the LCK Spring Split landing in fourth place with a total of 74-million hours watched and the Summer Split also reaching new record highs with a total of 66-million hours watched.
The 2022 Mid-Season Invitational garnered a total of 48-million hours watched, but did have a higher peak than the LCK with just over 2-million peak viewers during the MSI finals between T1 and RNG. The LCK Summer and Spring finals were consistent with around 1.3-million peak viewers.
This goes to show that while International Events do have highs, the tournament format could be improved, with fewer people tuning in to watch in the long run, and only coming to watch the key games. On the other hand, regional leagues do have a chance to compete with international competition.
Overall, the 2022 League of Legends viewership numbers were some of the best in all of esports, with no other tournament coming close to the numbers Riot put up in 2022. Now the question remains, what will happen to viewership in 2023?