Online audiences, full rooms, level of play, potential investors… The French championship of the game “League of Legends”, the LFL, remains as attractive as ever.
Rooms filled, like the musical Seine near Paris, in February. Rivalries between popular structures that generate warm atmospheres. Audiences always there, and an attractive distribution. The LFL, the French championship of League of Legends, is one of the most attractive domestic leagues in the world. Surely even the most attractive of all.
In any case, it attracts the attention of foreigners and European players wishing to participate in the phenomenon. As the end of the winter season looms on March 31, audiences remain high. Audiences which, since 2019, have increased eightfold, to reach 42,000 views on average per minute, over the 2022 season (53 million in total over the entire season).
franceinfo: Laure Valée, esports consultant for franceinfo, remind us why the success of the LFL continues unabated year after year?
Laura Valee: It is first of all a success that does not date from yesterday. France is one of the most developed European countries in terms of League of Legends, and we have many players who have marked the history of this game over the years. Players who have exported themselves, who have played internationally, in North America. Players who have participated in world championship finals.
France is a country capable of producing and developing very great players. The French league has also been commented on, for about ten years now, by the same people, the same enthusiasts who keep League of Legends in France, which are very popular, and which have contributed to the success of the game in our country. And there is more recently the arrival of Karmine Corp, which has upset esports in France for three years. She won a lot (three European titles, editor’s note) and gave birth to a new way of experiencing esports.
“LOL esports, older generation orgs and LCS are a bit withering but there is one place in the world where it isn’t and that’s the French league
The fans are all hardcore, the scene is lively, having a LOL team in France would be amazing” pic.twitter.com/CvCmljkFQC— Crow (@Crow__lol) March 4, 2023
There is therefore a very strong community enthusiasm for League of Legends In France. A trend that is growing with very popular personalities, influencers, who are investing and bringing in new audiences?
Yes, we are at a time when streamers – broadcasters of live content on the Twitch platform – have a strong interest in esports. Esports today is no longer just driven by big teams and big structures. We have people who want to be at the origin of the creation of esports teams.
The Karmine Corp was precisely a pioneer, and was the first example. And what is interesting to note today is that foreign influencers are starting to take an interest in the French league.
This is the case of the North American xQc, one of the biggest streamers in the world on the Twitch platform (11.7 million subscribers, editor’s note). He recently mentioned a desire to have a team to see it develop in the LFL, because according to him, it is the most attractive league, whether in terms of visibility or in terms of level.
