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What is the League of Legends World Championship?

League of Legends World Championship: a short history

The first League of Legends World Championship was held in 2011. The venue was a convention center in Jönköping, Sweden.

Gamers brought their own computers and competed in front of a large audience. Much to the surprise of Riot Games’ management, hundreds of thousands of fans watched the event online.

The following two years saw an incredible rise in popularity for the event and the 2013 League of Legends World Championship, which took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, was watched by 32 million people via Twitch. With eSports’ stratospheric rise in popularity, traditional outlets now also broadcast the League of Legends World Championship. More than 30 television and digital platforms, including ESPN and SYFY, have since aired the event.

Over the years, League of Legends has become a truly global League. The 2014 final was played in South Korea, the Mecca of esports and the venue, the Seoul World Cup stadium, confirmed the prestige that the League of Legends World Championship has come to possess.

In the following years the championship continued its global tour, moving to Berlin in 2015, back to Los Angeles in 2016, China in 2017, South Korea again in 2018, and then France in 2019.

Meanwhile the number of fans watching League of Legends continues to increase exponentially. The 2019 League of Legend World Championship finals, at the Accor Arena in Paris, was the most watched League of Legends match in the game’s 10-year history. 44 million viewers witnessed FunPlus Phoenix crush G2 Esports in the grand final.

 

The 2020 League of Legends World Championship

For this year’s edition, Championship points and regional finals were removed from the World Championship qualification process. The league now uses a double elimination bracket for its playoff format, with six teams participating in the spring playoffs and eight in the summer playoffs.

The finals are scheduled to take place in November at the Shanghai Stadium in Shanghai, China. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic much remains uncertain and there remains a significant chance that the event could be delayed or cancelled.

The spring playoffs were scheduled to conclude with the spring finals on April 19. However, due to the spread of Coronavirus, the season was temporarily suspended on March 13. Only four days later, Riot Games announced that the competition would resume on March 20, with all matches being played online.

Whether this could yet be an option for the League of Legends World Championship finals remains unclear.

 


 

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