Loading
The LEC 2026 Versus is entering its final week of the group stage. As League of Legends teams fight for playoff positions, the competitive picture is beginning to settle, but the viewership story of the tournament is still being actively rewritten.
That story has been shaped, more than anything else, by Los Ratones. Invited as a non-franchised team for the current split, LR opened the tournament with four straight losses, a start that looked like a quick exit waiting to happen. Instead, the team recovered, stayed relevant deep into the group stage, and now finds itself with a realistic shot at reaching the playoffs, all while emerging as the biggest driver of audience interest across the event.
At the same time, debates around the LEC’s franchising system have resurfaced across the community. The irony is hard to ignore: much of the tournament’s viewership momentum is being generated by a team operating outside that system. In this article, Esports Charts breaks down just how significant Los Ratones’ viewership impact has been, and why their performance is adding fuel to ongoing calls for the LEC to reconsider its franchised model.
Los Ratones leads in viewership among all the teams of the event
The 2026 LEC Winter Split quietly introduced a structural twist to its familiar format. As part of an experimental approach, Riot Games opened two slots to invited teams from the EMEA Regional Leagues, temporarily breaking the otherwise closed nature of the competition. Those spots went to Karmine Corp Blue, effectively the academy lineup of a permanent LEC organization, and Los Ratones, the team founded and led by caster Marc Lamont, better known as Caedrel. On paper, it looked like a modest format experiment. In practice, it became one of the defining storylines of the split.
Early results did little to inspire confidence. Both invited teams struggled out of the gate, and after the opening week it appeared increasingly likely that neither would factor into the playoff race. Three weeks later, that assumption only holds true for one of them. While Karmine Corp Blue has fallen out of contention, Los Ratones have done the opposite. After starting the split with four consecutive losses, the team rebounded with four wins in its last five matches. That run included a victory over G2 Esports, in what is currently the most-watched match of the tournament. With two games left in the group stage, Los Ratones now control their own playoff chances, a scenario that looked unrealistic not long ago.
Los Ratones is featured in three out of five most popular games of the tournament so far
From a viewership standpoint, the logic behind inviting these teams is easy to read. Riot was clearly looking to inject additional audiences into the LEC ecosystem, and that goal has been met. Los Ratones, in particular, have emerged as the tournament’s primary viewership driver, outperforming established franchises in a league that includes long-standing heavyweights like Fnatic as well as streamer-backed projects such as Karmine Corp and KOI. Despite that competition, it is the invited, non-franchised team that consistently sets the benchmark for audience interest.
The numbers underline that impact clearly. As the group stage enters its final week, three of the five most-watched matches of the Winter Split feature Los Ratones, including the top two by peak viewership. Beyond individual matches, the team also leads all participants in both Hours Watched and Average Viewers. In a league built around franchised stability, it is a non-franchised invite that is doing the most work to sustain and grow audience engagement. And that reality is precisely what makes the ongoing debate around the LEC’s franchising model impossible to ignore.
Caedrel is also the event’s most influential streamer so far
Criticism of the LEC’s franchising system has resurfaced largely because it limits upward mobility. In a closed league, strong performances in the EMEA Regional Leagues do not translate into a clear path to the top level, regardless of competitive results or fan support. Fans have actively discussed this dynamic online, with threads on Reddit specifically calling for the removal of franchising in the LEC after the success of Los Ratones, reflecting frustration that outsider teams seldom get real chances in the permanent league structure.
Another recurring point in community debate centers on competitive tension. Without the risk of relegation or promotion, lower-table matches can lose narrative weight once playoff qualification becomes unlikely, and some voices argue that the current format reduces meaningful stakes for a large portion of the season. The prominence of an invited team fighting for relevance — like Los Ratones — underscores how much emotional investment can hinge on “outsider” stories that franchising normally suppresses.
There is also a broader sentiment that franchising shifts the focus toward organizational permanence and away from players and personalities, which historically have driven a lot of LoL viewership. Some critics say that audiences connect more with compelling individual arcs — exactly what Los Ratones have delivered — rather than static brand identities locked into permanent slots.
Finally, the debate is fueled by the perception that franchising has not fully delivered on its original promise of financial stability and long-term growth. While slot ownership provides security, it has not eliminated structural financial pressure on teams, nor has it guaranteed consistent audience growth. Against that backdrop, the success of a non-franchised, invited team in driving viewership feels less like an anomaly and more like a signal. For many fans, it raises a straightforward question: if the league’s most effective growth stories are coming from outside the franchise system, is that system still serving the LEC’s long-term interests?
