As we know, Faker is currently taking a break from competition and according to information from T1, he will not return until at least after the match against Dplus KIA on July 16 (Vietnam time). This is assuming that Faker’s injury improves and the captain of T1 also regains his form. Because the first match after Faker’s return (if any) will not be easy, as their opponent will be Hanwha Life Esports.
However, there is a statistic that LCK must be concerned about during Faker’s absence. According to statistics from the specialized site Esports Charts, the viewership of matches in LCK, even with T1, has plummeted significantly, around 50%. Specifically, during the fifth week of competition, despite featuring the highly-rated “Super Classic” match between T1 and Gen.G, the viewership only hovered around 400k. Meanwhile, the match with the highest viewership was T1 – DRX (the first match that Faker missed in LCK Summer 2023). However, even at that peak, the match only reached just over 450k.
Notably, these are extremely low figures for matches featuring T1. But even more concerning, the match between Kwangdong Freecs and Dplus KIA only had over 220k views – a very alarming number for a match in LCK. While it is known that matches without T1 are likely to be less appealing to international audiences, it has been a long time since we have seen LCK viewership so low.
Furthermore, all 5 highest-viewed matches in LCK to date have featured T1. Among them, the T1 – Gen.G match in the first round had the highest total with over 760k views. This indicates that LCK still heavily relies on the appeal of Faker and his teammates. When the legendary captain is absent, viewership immediately drops by nearly half.
It may be a long time before LCK can find someone of sufficient stature to replace Faker and the brand he has built alongside T1. For now, not just LCK or T1, but perhaps the entire League of Legends community is looking forward to Faker’s return as soon as possible.