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LCS Lock In viewership was 43% higher than the first three weeks of Spring 2020

The final match between Cloud9 and Team Liquid saw a peak of 372,000 viewers recorded across its English language broadcasts

Aaron Down's Avatar

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League of Legends League of Legends Championship Series 

The LCS Lock In tournament was a refreshing change from the league’s regular format, which saw North America’s top League of Legends teams duke it out on the Rift for a grand prize of $150,000 plus a $50,000 donation to a charity of choice. Riot has now published the viewership figures from the event, confirming that the broader League of Legends community was also receptive to the experience.

Across the full three weeks of play, the Lock In had an Average Minute Audience of 196,000, with fans collectively tuning in for more than 9.4 million hours – a 43% increase from the first three weeks of the 2020 LCS Spring Split. With teams making superstar signings during the offseason, especially Cloud9’s acquisition of Luka ‘Perkz’ Perković and Team SoloMid’s $6 million deal for Hu ‘SwordArt’ Shuo-Chieh, it’s no wonder that fans were eager to check out this year’s rosters in action.

The Lock In final between Team Liquid and Cloud9 was a five game banger, with the latter nearly pulling off a reverse sweep after going two games down. However, it was Liquid that took home the grand prize as an Average Minute Audience of 246,000 English language viewers looked on. A peak of 372,000 viewers was recorded across English language broadcasts.

With the inaugural Lock In performing solidly, it would be unsurprising to see Riot make it a more regular fixture. The Lock In was also beneficial for LCS sides, as the results from the tournament had zero impact on their regular season standings, and ultimately no repercussions for their Worlds hopes. As such, it allowed teams to get a few extra weeks of on-stage experience with their 2021 rosters, without the pressures of the regular split.

With the 2021 LCS Spring Split now truly underway, teams will be eager to get their own back while fighting for their place at the top. For Liquid on the other hand, the pressure is now on to replicate its Lock In form.

Aaron has been with The Loadout since 2020 - their inaugural venture into the industry. Their writing chops were honed throughout their Digital Marketing MA, which have been utilized to great effect covering the latest PS5 and Xbox news for the best games like Stellar Blade, Honkai Star Rail, and Baldur's Gate 3. Aaron's passion for console gaming was stoked from a young age, having commandeered their dad's PS1 alongside FIFA 98, Toy Story 2: Buzz Light Year to the Rescue, and Resident Evil 2. From there, Aaron spent most of their adolescence flipping between PlayStation and Xbox across the generations, experiencing the peaks and troughs of iconic franchises like Gears of War, Call of Duty, and Assassin's Creed, alongside a slew of AA and indie hits as they grew into adulthood. An enjoyer of the best RPG games, Aaron's favorites from across the years are Kingdom Hearts 2 and Persona 5. Nowadays, when they aren't theorycrafting builds for the upcoming Hades 2, you'll find Aaron running from zombies in Call of Duty MW3, or reliving their Sunday League glory days in FC 24. Rumor has it they're actually three otters in a trench coat, though this has yet to be confirmed. (He/They)