Riot Games announced on November 16 that it will move the English broadcast of the League of Legends Pro League (LPL) to a co-streaming-only model, effectively suspending its official English-language coverage. The decision marks a significant shift in how international audiences will engage with China’s premier League of Legends competition.
“While there won’t be an official broadcast in the traditional sense, we’re committed to ensuring fans have options to catch up on the action,” Riot Games stated on its official X account (formerly Twitter). “We’re working on providing ‘Clean Feeds’ of each match, which will include only in-game audio, as well as exploring options for co-streamed VODs.”
Rising Influence of Co-Streaming
Co-streaming has become an increasingly popular method for fans to watch esports events, allowing individual streamers to provide live commentary and interact with their audiences. According to Esports Charts, co-streaming accounted for 25% of League of Legends regional league viewership in 2024. For LPL’s non-Chinese broadcasts, only 29.4% of viewership came from official LPL channels, while 70.6% was attributed to co-streaming.
Notably, 18.4% of the total viewership was generated by Twitch streamer Marc “Caedrel” Lamont, a former professional player, former LEC caster, and one of the most prominent LPL co-streamers. The shift to a co-streaming model is expected to further amplify the influence of individual content creators like Lamont.
Potential Reasons Behind the Move
Sources close to the LPL and its English casters told TEA that the decision may be influenced by several factors, including operational costs and logistical challenges. Maintaining an official English broadcast involves significant expenses, such as hiring on-air talent and production staff, and managing international payment processes.
For reference: TJ Sports, the joint venture between Riot Games and its parent Tencent tasked with operating the LPL, was paying its on-air talent for the English language broadcast a monthly salary of approximately ¥60,000 RMB ($8,282 USD) in 2021, according to sources.
Payment processing has also been a longstanding issue. With services like PayPal not reliably operating in Mainland China and strict money transfer regulations between China and Western countries, compensating foreign staff presents logistical hurdles.