The LCK Road to MSI, the playoff stage leading up to the 2025 Mid-Season Invitational, has emerged as the most-watched League of Legends esports event of the year.
According to Esports Charts, the series between T1 and Hanwha Life Esports (HLE) reached a peak viewership of 1,965,776, narrowly surpassing the previous high of 1,907,634 from another T1 vs. HLE matchup in the LCK Cup.
Despite this impressive number, it still falls short of the 2.6 million peak viewers recorded during the LCK 2024 Spring Split, the league’s all-time record. The Road to MSI averaged 752,208 viewers, although this figure excludes regular season statistics following the merger of the LCK calendar.
Nonetheless, these numbers reinforce the LCK’s status as the most popular League of Legends league worldwide, averaging over 337,000 viewers so far in 2025 (excluding Chinese viewership). YouTube led the platform rankings with over 500,000 peak viewers, while co-streaming remains strong thanks to prominent community figures like Caedrel and IWillDominate.
T1 once again proved to be a major viewership magnet. In a commanding 3-0 sweep over HLE, the team secured its fourth consecutive appearance at MSI. Despite the lopsided outcome, both of T1’s playoff series were the most-watched of the Road to MSI. Furthermore, all five of the top-viewed matches this LCK season have featured T1.
As T1, the reigning world champions, prepares for MSI in Vancouver starting June 27, expectations are high for another surge in global viewership—especially if they advance deep into the tournament.
