League of Legends: Official statements mocked, LPL's popularity and performance plummet, and plans to implement a paid viewing plan. (Part Two)

This is astonishing. I wonder which great person thought of asking viewers for money during such a major upheaval in the LPL scene? To put it bluntly, with veterans on strike, newcomers in a state of uncertainty, and whether viewers will continue to support the team in the new season, everything is unknown. Even League of Legends streamers are complaining about extremely low viewership and are willing to switch careers. This series of negative news all indicates that the development trend and potential of the LPL region are declining. No one is playing the game, no one is watching the matches, and the players are not achieving results. The idea of promoting paid viewing is truly surprising.

Women pay for merchandise

The internet is full of jokes, saying that giving viewers access to the games is already a favor, and the LPL region doesn't have the right to charge for content. Without winning, there's no traffic, and without traffic, how can you incentivize charging? To put it another way, imagine the LPL region is a streaming platform or a TV station. With classic actors leaving one after another and the scripts faltering, there's not a single drama that can drive viewers to stay up all night to watch. If they announce they're going to charge for content now, viewers will definitely go crazy.

Han Yi and Zhu Kai's discussion about the poor ecosystem of the LPL region wasn't without merit. From another perspective, the region's merchandise and ticket series have always been quite good, meeting or even exceeding expectations. However, the reaction is suddenly very strong when it comes to charging fees. Moreover, according to statistics, the number of people paying for merchandise is actually higher among women than men. It's worth noting that esports and gaming have always been dominated by the male market. The current situation in the LPL region is very similar to traditional sports. The large increase in female viewers is mainly due to the opportunity to socialize and have topics to discuss with their partners. Men's starting point is completely different; they determine the entertainment value based on the team and its performance. In other words, if there are no results, they deem it unwatchable, so charging fees is equivalent to losing money and has no return.

Downloading an application is already a data usage metric.

From the official perspective, the hope is simply that the esports industry will emulate the business model of traditional sports, where television, networks, and even live streaming should all be paid services. However, many viewers have developed a habit of watching pirated content, and few are willing to visit official websites or authorized web pages to watch matches. Both sides have their reasons. Viewers are more straightforward; they can tolerate downloading apps, even if they're forced to watch ads, at least it's free. The Chinese national football team, with its large scale, is often left out. Even the LCK region doesn't dare to implement a paid subscription model; forcing a small region like the LPL to do so would only backfire.