On May 8th, Riot Korea (www.leagueoflegends.co.kr) disclosed the viewing data for the 2017 LCK Spring Split Finals that took place on April 22nd. That was the very day that SKT T1 beat KT Rolster 3-0 at Samsan World Stadium, Incheon, claiming their 6th LCK tournament victory. It took no more than a day for the 4k seats to be sold out, making the event quite a hot issue.

Riot Games disclosed their analysis on the age and gender ratio of the customers for the tournament tickets through their official ticket reservation site. The most interesting part of the analysis was that 46%, almost half of the customers, were female, which is an increase from the 32% of last year’s LCK Spring Split. This phenomenon of increased in-person viewing from female fans is likely due to eSports’ growth as a form of entertainment, as well as the increasing popularity of pro gaming teams.

The the biggest age group was people in their 20’s (73.3%), and the age composition going down from there was teens (16.9%), people in their 30’s (6.61%), 40’s (2.11%), and over 50’s (1.08%). Customers over 30 making up 10% of the whole percentage shows how League of Legends eSports have become a part of culture beloved by those of all ages.

Another interesting part of the data is that tourists also attended the tournament, seeking to feel the excitement in person.

Tourists who purchased tickets to the 2017 LCK Spring Split Finals made up 1.8% of attendees. Last year, 3.6% of tickets for the 2016 LCK Spring Split and 2% for the 2016 LCK Summer Split were bought by tourists, which shows how LCK has become a popular league throughout the world.

Seunghyun Lee, the representative for Riot Korea commented that, “We were able to finish the 2017 LCK Spring Split with an amazing end, thanks to all the fabulous teams and players and fans supporting eSports.” He continued, saying that “Now, eSports is not limited to only a certain age group or just gaming maniacs; it has become a culture enjoyed by people of all different age and gender. We, Riot Korea, will try our best to present everyone with the best eSports experience.”