The MOBA League of Legends is currently dominating the streaming platform Twitch. MeinMMO has exclusive figures on which league and which players in LoL are most watched by German viewers. The German fan of LoL either watches German-speaking players or the absolute world stars.
This is the situation: League of Legends is experiencing a resurgence on Twitch at the beginning of 2025 because Riot Games has changed the rules so that streamers can now participate in the regional leagues and form their own teams there. Before 2025, this was practically impossible. Now, many former elite players have turned to streaming, and viewers are captivated by how they play, train, and interact with each other.
The tremendous success of LoL on Twitch is reflected in the statistics:
The Englishman Caedrel is the biggest Twitch streamer in the world in February 2025. He is the coach of the streamer team Los Ratones, which has single-handedly turned a previously insignificant regional league, the NLC, into the center of the LoL universe.
In January 2025, League of Legends was the most-watched game on Twitch, ahead of GTA 5 and Marvel Rivals.
In Germany, NoWay4U (+50% viewer hours compared to the previous month), who even plays in the NLC, and Tolkin (+131%), the main caster, are benefiting significantly from the LoL boom in January 2025.
We at MeinMMO have now received exclusive data on the viewing behavior of German viewers from the analysis platform Esports Charts.
Germans prefer to watch the stars in South Korea
Which league are German viewers watching? A statistic shows which league had the most German viewers at its peak:
Here, the Koreans are clearly ahead. During a stream by Tolkin about the LCK Cup on January 22, a peak of 91,033 viewers tuned in.
The star of the LCK is currently mid-laner Showmaker, who dominates the Cup with his team Dplus KIA. Showmaker, the world champion from 2020, has brought back the support genius BeryL in 2025 and is starting a strong run.
The German streamer Tolkin broadcasts the US stream of the Korean league, commenting in German:
In second place is the local Prime League with 32,601 viewers. The peak was reached during a game by Eintracht Spandau featuring the influencer HandOFBlood.
Next is the NLC, where 26,936 Germans tuned in at peak. This was exactly during the match where NORD faced off against Los Ratones.
The European professional league LEC is in fourth place with 25,226 viewers. Interestingly, most Germans are not watching top games from G2, but are following the German team SK, which is at the bottom of the table.
In fifth place is the Chinese league LP – but significantly trailing, with 9,982 viewers.
It is notable that the top-tier Chinese league, at least in January 2025, plays a subordinate role and that the newly formed US league LTA has no role at all. There also seems to be little interest in the strong European leagues in France and Spain.
German fans do not want to see the best German players, but rather Hänno’s team
Which were the most-watched games with German participation?
In a second statistic concerning the most-watched matches with German participation, it shows that Eintracht Spandau is leading: The matches of the Berlin team reached the most viewers. Even more than the hyped opening match of NORD against Los Ratones, where NoWay was the only German representative.
Eintracht Spandau is continuously praised for their great PR work with videos or on social media.
Surprisingly, SK appears in this statistic in fourth place, being at the very bottom of the LEC hierarchy but is the only German team in the league and has two German players on the team.
One would rather expect a game from G2 to be among them: Here, Broken Blade, the currently strongest German player on the top lane, is playing. Also, Fnatic has a true star in Upset.
Yet both do not appear in the statistics.
Twitch streamer Tolkin plays a crucial role in the German market
An expert says: Viktor Proniakin is the Product Manager at Esports Charts. He emphasizes the role of the German co-streamer Tolkin:
The data reveal several important trends in the German-speaking esports audience. […] The co-stream of the LCK Cup by Tolkin stands out, which recorded a massive peak of 91,033 German-speaking viewers. This peak underscores the growing influence of streamers on viewer numbers in esports, especially when they bring their own fanbase to international tournaments.
Especially local leagues like Prime League and NLC continue to dominate German esports consumption, with Prime League at the forefront. These numbers reflect the strong regional loyalty of the audience, but they also underscore the increasing trend toward crossover between streamers and traditional esports events. The difference between global esports tournaments like LEC and LPL compared to regional events shows that viewers prefer content that aligns with their local teams and personalities, providing a clear roadmap for future esports content strategies.
Germans watch either world-class players like Showmaker or their favorite streamer in LoL
What’s behind it. On one hand, Riot Games’ strategy of utilizing local streamers and well-known influencers to push esports seems to be working. Leagues like NLC or even Prime League are suddenly more exciting than professional leagues.
On the other hand, “the very best LoL with the biggest superstars” in the LCK is still three times stronger than anything in the regional market. Especially when what is happening there is explained by a German streamer.
The clear losers are the leagues “in the middle,” such as the professional leagues LEC, LTA, or LPL. They no longer hold the allure for German fans. The rise of Prime League or NLC comes at their expense.
This aligns with the general sentiment that there is just “too much LoL” being shown and that as a fan, one must choose some competitions if they don’t want to spend 80 hours a week hanging out on Twitch.
People will likely watch Eintracht Spandau, the LCK, and maybe even Nord if NoWay has an exciting game – but then also track what the Chinese are doing or what Broken Blade is up to; that’s too much. They will only be seen again when they appear at MSI or Worlds.
This also has tradition: In the West, viewers traditionally closely follow the South Korean league, while they only engage with the LPL when an international tournament is at hand.
The trend seems to suggest that the German viewer watches two types of LoL esports:
- Either I know the people because they are from my country and I like them
- Or I watch what Faker and Showmaker are doing because they are the biggest and I can still learn something from them
Everything in between is not as interesting for the German viewers.
In football, that would be a fan who either goes to the local sports field or checks out what Cristiano Ronaldo is doing.
In addition to Tolkin and HandOfBlood, Twitch streamer NoWay holds a prominent position in German LoL. He has set ambitious goals for 2025: Twitch streamer wants to compete against the big stars of LoL at age 32, conquer the world, and get fit
