League of Legends World Championship Becomes Most-Viewed eSport Event Ever

Back in September, the League of Legends World Championship had begun. Several teams from around the world were brought together to compete for the Season 3 World Championship and the prize of $2 million. After two weeks of matches, the final two teams were set to face off. On October 4th, South Korea's SK Telecom1 battled against China's Royal Club in front of a sold out crowd at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. In the end, SK Telecom1 defeated their opponents and were crowned the best team of Season 3. That; however, is not what made this event outstanding. The one aspect that truly made these finals spectacular were the fans.

According to a post from Riot, the final showdown between SK Telecom1 and Royal Club not only drew in a sold out live audience, but was also watched by 32 million people around the world with 8.5 million concurrent viewers at the event's peak. To put this in perspective, last year's championship had a total of 8.2 million viewers with a peak concurrent viewership of 1.1 million viewers. In just one year, Riot quadrupled their total viewership to make the Season 3 championship the most viewed event in eSports history. Gamers aren't the only ones to take note of League of Legends' rampant success. Several mainstream news sites have recently dedicated some time to League of Legends and the world of eSports and even American Express has partnered with Riot to make League of Legends themed Serve Cards. Love it or hate it, League of Legends seems to be an unstopplable force in the world of eSports that shows no signs of slowing anytime soon.