TSM: A League of Their Own
Quick.
Off the top of your head, which are the three biggest North American League Championship Series (NALCS) teams? Have them ready? If you’ve been anywhere on this side of the planet your list is probably: TSM, Cloud9, and CLG.
Though TSM exited the Mid Season Invitational with another middling finish on the international stage, it still seems fitting to take a closer look how TSM trounced the rest of North America on their way there. To do this we’ll look at the only thing that really matters:
Ratings.
LCS Spring 2017 — An Overview
To be fair to all the teams that participated in the NALCS, Spring Split 2017, we’ll only look at the regular season.
In summary, the LCS Spring Split 2017:
- Ran from Jan 20, 2017-Mar 26, 2017
- Across 2 Channels (nalcs1, nalcs2)
- Broadcasting 90 matches,
- Running for 305 hours live,
- Generating 21.5m viewer hours.
The results were straightforward. TSM crushed the field along the way and won a stunning 83% of their matches.
The Biggest Draw of the NALCS
TSM didn’t just outclass their North American counterparts in competitive play. Match ratings show that they are also the most popular team by a wide margin.
Cloud9, their closest rival, averaged nearly 30% fewer concurrent viewers across all of their matches. When compared to the remainder of the North American teams, TSM pulled away even more dramatically, with average viewership between 50% and a staggering 250% greater than the others.
If TSM would just stop winning their matches so quickly they’d dominate viewer hours even more.
Despite receiving least amount of on air coverage, with a total of 45.2 hours of live airtime, TSM still manages to beat out their North American competition in total viewer hours. Though Cloud9 manages to remain competitive (by running their matches of 18% longer than TSM), no other team comes close. Viewer hour margins fall between 55% and 181%, showing that the rest of the North American LCS has a long way to go to catch up. If TSM would just stop winning their matches so quickly they’d dominate viewer hours even more.
Conclusion
TSM went on to win the NALCS Spring playoffs before their disappointing elimination in the group stages of the MSI. However, history shows that TSM is without a doubt the strongest and most consistent competitor in the North America. Because of this they’ve been rewarded NALCS’s strongest brand. By looking at match viewership data it’s clear TSM carries the highest ratings of any team.
There appears to be some truth in the old adage — viewers will vote with their feet — and they’re voting TSM.
