LCP 2026 watch time drops 38% as peaks fall

The League of Legends Championship Pacific (LCP) completed its 2026 season on Aug. 30. Total watch time for the season fell 38.2% compared with 2025, while total broadcast airtime remained almost the same. Split 3 recorded the series’ second-lowest peak audience since the LCP relaunched in 2025. The highest concurrent audience in Split 3 reached 153,100 viewers during the Week 4, Day 4 match between Secret Whales and CTBC Flying Oyster. The Grand Final between the same teams peaked at 152,696 viewers. CTBC won the seeding series 3–2 to secure the top playoff seed; Secret Whales defeated CTBC 3–0 to win the Split 3 title. Another playoff meeting between the pair ranked among the tournament’s top four events by peak viewership. Across the full 2026 season, average viewership fell 37.6% year over year. The season’s highest single-event peak dropped 64.1%, from 483,444 live viewers in 2025 to 173,607 in 2026. League membership and tournament outcomes changed from 2025: PSG Talon was removed from the league by Riot Games for failing to meet operating standards and did not compete in 2026. Japan’s DetonatioN FocusMe and Fukuoka SoftBank HAWKS were eliminated before the Playoffs. GAM Esports did not reach a final in 2026. Broadcast-language and platform distribution also shifted. Japanese-language broadcasts accounted for a smaller share of total watch time than in Split 2. Twitch’s share of total watch time declined while YouTube’s share increased. At the time of data collection, Split 3 ranked third by peak viewers among six regional qualifiers shown, excluding Chinese streaming platforms; that comparison was provisional because several other regional competitions were still ongoing. Secret Whales and CTBC Flying Oyster will represent the LCP at the 2026 World Championship in the Swiss Stage, while MVK Esports advanced to the Play-In stage by finishing with the highest remaining points among the league’s teams.