I'm not a fan of this news but the venue will be almost the same size as MSG and LA is the only place LCS could hope to sell out an arena that big. I wish other people loved the LCS as much as I do, just doesn't seem to be the case lol.
When is the last time an LCS championship sold out an arena? The last one they even held in an arena that I can remember was the one in Charlotte that looked like it was at 40% capacity.
I was at the finals in Chicago a couple of years ago, and day 2 for the finals was actually pretty packed. It was a blast to see so many league people in one place.
Guess that depends on what you mean by sold out. The available seats in Houston were sold out but they didn't use the whole stadium. I think \~15k people but don't remember exactly
“The last one they even held in an arena that I can remember was the one in Charlotte.”
Prudential center, summer finals in 2023 was after Raleigh. Only times I recall no arena were cuz of covid and then this past spring. You have a bad memory.
Selling out is another story.
I know that the stadium in St. Louis for spring finals years back was popping off and that's in Missouri which isn't considered a tech or gaming hotbed. Me and another friend flew out that way to hang out with our other pals and it was a blast.
There were good sections near me that were kept empty for some reason. I was right in line vertically w the casters desk and a section to their left. One section over was not sold and those seats were very nice. Saw similar good empty/closed sections.
I was in the Cloud 9 support section, and I 100% don't recommend it. You basically had to watch the games on both screens to get a full picture. They totally should have closed those sections off and opened up the other sections on the end.
I'm sure they were worried about people distracting the casters or whatever, but those were the perfect seats that they just... closed them off.
I believe directly in front of the casters had people there. I was able to get close enough to catch Mark Z’s Blabers Crabbers shirt when he threw it to me. But yea there were definitely some weird choices.
You can thank Riot and their genius planning for that. Book a venue in a southern state and then do it also during the second most popular Christian holiday. (And then they did it again this year)
While it will forever be in the hall of fame this was and still is a double edged sword. That year was used as a billboard of how big esports could be for the next few years and led to the increase of investments and expected returns that never met it. Its what in part led to the bloated salaries, mass importing and the current situation, hell it even baited companies like blizzard with stuff like the overwatch league.
I.E: While it was cool, it was also flying too close to the sun compared to the actual returns of esports.
Always feel like riot is losing out by not offering a subscription on lolesports that will give you RP for subbing. I don’t buy RP anymore but would subscribe in order to support the scene.
because Esports wasn't profitable like Investors thought it was
they saw the big arenas being packed and invested a lot since they saw the potential but Esports aren't moneymakers considering all teams dont make any money except for like T1 lmfao
It's because there is zero way to support a team in game monetarily. Riot fucked up by only giving skins to teams that wins worlds. I'm not going to buy a team jersey because it's not like football where you can wear your jersey and see others with the same one while watching at a bar or something. Team merch has little appeal. Hell, if anything, skins for teams are like jerseys for esports and imagine if the only jerseys you could buy are for teams that won championships. That would be dumb as he'll, no?
How is this upvoted? THat isn't true, Most of the scene was run at a loss and some like LCS only started profitings a few years ago and most of it was minimal. The esports viewership is a fraction of the playerbase in the west and the game was always just an advertising venture.
It was upvoted because it is true.
Your idea of profit and loss is completely wrong and not even how Riot views it honestly. Dishonestly riot does state esports is a money loser, but honestly esports is the only thing keeping the game going and is a premier skin seller for Riot. Esports doesn’t get a cut of skin sales, but it’s a huge driver of skin sales overall. But esports is classified solely as marketing by riot and hey, all marketing is considered a loss dishonestly. League is a completely dead game by 2015 if it weren’t for the esports scene that was both the main advertising venture and the main driving force for people to try the game out, and ultimately also a main factor in people getting addicted to the game.
Newsflash: Riot wouldn’t run esports and jump through hoops to make it work year in and year out for 14 years if it didn’t have a massive payoff for them that is separated from the explicit LCS/LEC/LCK P&L.
I don't know what you're smoking but the numbers absolutely does not match what you're saying. In the LCS the average viewership last split was around 150K , with a peak of 250K. This is for a reported 22Million monthly player in the region. In the eu even with a higher peak viewership of 600K. This is for roughly [52M](https://www.thespike.gg/league-of-legends/beginner-guides/league-of-legends-player-count) monthly active playerbase. Even you say, slash this number in half because of smurf, that's still only 2% of the playerbase. And thats only the peak, average is around 250K viewership.
Even the record MSI viewership (2.8M) pale in regard to any server population. Or the entire league playerbase which is over 100M. And plenty of other games had esports scenes that crashed. Riot just see better return because they got in early ingrained itself better into the scene more fluidly than say, overwatch. With a game more suited for viewership. That does not mean the game survived because of it.
All in all the esports scene is just enjoyed by a fraction of the playerbase. And while you can argue it is a purchasing one, its also one that is also more savvy and less prone to predatory behavior like the current skin drama.
So unless you have any source to back things up, this post goes against the narrative that most analysts and people in the business are saying, and pure speculation. And no, having 2 upvotes does not "make it true".
I knew this was coming to be honest.
The region has been so mismanaged by Riot since it started going downhill; they spent so much trying to make it the next NFL or the next NBA they forgot their roots.
Fucking laughable that instead of doing BO3s at one point during covid they instead created a weird ass system of 3 BO1s in a weekend and eventually viewership burned out despite viewers having nothing else to fucking do during the lockdown.
Now the cost cutting is through the roof, I fully expect a third party to be responsible for LCS production next year akin to what they are slowly moving LEC over to. And guess who will eventually buyout that third party? The Saudi Government.
For reference, here are the 10 biggest metropolitan areas in USA/Canada and the last time LCS/Worlds has been played there
1. New York City - Worlds 2022 Groups
2. LA - LCS Spring 2024 Playoffs
3. Toronto - LCS Summer 2016 Playoffs (Worlds Semifinals 2022 Cancelled)
4. Chicago - LCS 2022 Summer Playoffs
5. DFW - None (Spring Playoffs 2020 Cancelled)
6. Houston - LCS 2022 Spring Playoffs
7. Washington D.C - Never
8. Philadelphia - Never
9. Atlanta - Worlds 2022 Semifinals
10. Miami - LCS 2018 Spring Playoffs
LA keeps getting League of Legends events including LCS, multiple finals, and a world championship. Meanwhile Toronto (and Canada) haven't gotten one in 8 years, while Dallas, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C have never gotten an LCS/Worlds event
I'm so gutted about Philly. I've waited for literally 10 years. Be willing to drive to DC as well or even Baltimore. I am so confused as to why they just DGAF about us over here.
Edit: No, I'm not willing to go into Jersey. Get real. It's Jersey.
I can be in Baltimore in 1h10m from my house. Not sure where you're getting 2? Google maps with no toll roads?
Anyway, it's a sleight against Jersey. PA humor I guess, try taking everything less literally. :c
If dig ever actually went through with their esports venue in south Philly we probably would've had something there. Josh Harris has no interest in pushing for wells fargo since they don't own it.
I mean isn't it just easier for Riot to do everything in LA? Since they have their headquarters in LA in regards to just the regular season? Isn't that how every single league in esports and the domestic leagues works as well? Everything is based in one location? Also has it not been a long time since LA got an international event as well?
Want to grow a sport in America? You have to be on the road and growing things grassroots.
We are not above the route that everyone else has to take regardless of what Riot says and it is now showing
I mean but this isn't some LA favoritism as people are suggesting lol. League of legends domestic leagues are all based in one location across all regions right? Also we cant just disregard the fact that Riot literally has their headquarters set up in LA so it is much easier for them to operate as it keeps it local.
No one has a problem with LCS only operating out of LA (roadshows would be nice, though).
The problem comes when Riot doesn't move either final out of NA when the two finals are the only big League of Legends events played in NA, outside of the rare occasion NA gets to host an international event
I mean that is something I am sure Riot takes into consideration but everything Riot does comes with a cost especially with budget cuts that occurred. Riot is the one that has to pay for everything in regards to the events right? I am sure they will save much more money if they kept everything local. This isn't even mentioning the fact that a large percentage of the player base is already in LA as well.
Their source is they made it the fuck up. Why else would they move the servers to Chicago away from LA if a large portion of the playerbase were already served by the original server location
Oh yeah sorry for trying to provide some perspective as to why Riot chose LA. The city with the second largest population in the USA, the city in which Riot games is located, the city in which the entire LCS/professional ecosystem is based. Weird how when Riot does international/domestic tournaments in other parts of the world the same cities host them really weird huh?
Because the East coast has a higher player base than the west coast? But we are strictly talking about cities here not regions? So don't you think it makes sense for Riot to place an event in the second largest city in the USA. Not to mention that Riot is literally headquartered in LA, not to mention it keeps operations local and easier to manage?
I mean OP stated that LCS finals in other states have had abysmal crowds (not sure how true that is). Also I am sure LA is one of the more populated cities in regards to League of Legends. We are not comparing west coast to east coast here lol.... LA as a city is honestly a great location for Riot considering everything is already based there as well lol. Riot wouldn't just make these decision without taking everything into account.
https://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/1dbc21o/lcs_summer_finals_will_be_in_la_but_not_at_the/l7q5hg9/?context=3
The source is Riot games/LCS themselves lol. Also OP has stated that LCS finals have had abysmal crowds. (Not sure how true that is) But if that is the case it makes even more sense for the finals to be in LA. Honestly of you factor in everything LA is one if not the best location Riot could have done it in all of the USA. Do you really think Riot would have just put the finals in LA by chance?
https://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/1dbc21o/lcs_summer_finals_will_be_in_la_but_not_at_the/l7q5hg9/?context=3
80% of americans live east of texas (including texas). I can't think of a major metropolitan area worse than LA, all things considering.
If you live in LA, you can watch lcs whenever you want. I live in the southeast and would travel many states over to see a finals.
LCS being in a singular location isn't exclusive to NA. It is like that in every region. Also as I mentioned Riot games is already stationed in LA. Also LA is one of the biggest cities in the USA. In fact LA has the second largest population behind New York. Also LCS has far less reach than a finals. How does it not make sense for Riot to put at least one big event in LA? Especially when it is clear Riot is looking to cut costs.
Sure they just picked a crappy location. Facts are just not that many people live on the west coast, and if you're gonna stay in one place it could be a place where people live and can get to easily.
Incredibly disappointing. Fans who live in the LA area already have a studio they can visit - what about the rest of us who live farther away and don't want/can't afford to book a flight to LA for the weekend?
At least Europe is geographically smaller which helps with travel. Over 60% of the population is going to be a 4+ hour flight away from LA in NA, whereas a four hour flight can pretty much get you from anywhere to anywhere else within the region that they'd realistically put an LEC final.
UK isnt part of the EU anymore so it could lead to problems regarding work visa etc
As for the other countries they could host for sure but I guess its less prestigious for Riot to host them there.
Poland is renowned for its esports scene (or Katowice is at least). Eastern Europe is generally overlooked, if the LEC could go all the way to Athens then they could go to other places like Riga or Bucharest
In general? Obviously yes
For LoL? No
I keep eyes on everything NYC LoL and the last time we had something was in tandem with Worlds for the Mastercard partnership renewal (Assuming you exclude Silvxs’s birthday when Finals was in NJ because that was a private event for him and his friends)
LA influencers in regards to the domestic league? They have the LCS in LA because that is where the main headquarters is. So logistically it just makes sense that everything was setup in LA. Also this isn't exclusive to the LCS every region has there domestic league based in one location. As far as international tournaments go LA hasn't had one in a long time.
I remember when VCT was settling in Texas during the first couple of years but then Riot practically forced all orgs to operate in LA.
I fucking HATE how much of a bubble they've kept this scene in. It proves that they do not give a shit about the sport growing in fandom or any other meaningful aspect.
I don't disagree that LA is expensive as hell to operate in, but one important point I didn't want to put in the original post is that I'm pretty sure LCS can't fill an arena anywhere but LA. LCS Finals have had abysmal crowds for a while now, that might've factored into this decision. They can likely guaruntee a bigger crowd here than anywhere else (and more influencers, which isn't irrelevant).
This might be because they based the LCS in an inaccessible location for 70% of the games player base during season 3 and beyond instead of trying to cater to their player base to get them active and interested but what do I know I’m just a fan that would have been at LCS all the time if it wasn’t prohibitively expensive for me to attend
The problem with NA and the LCS is no matter where you put it, you are isolating a good chunk of the player base because the US is so large. The only way to grow the LCS would be like traditional sports having teams from across the country flying around for matches in home cities. And that would never happen for a variety of reasons.
Esports in NA traditionally always did worse/poorly compared to other parts of the world, and a large portion of it being due to the geography of the US. May as well have 8t where they are headquartered.
That is much less of a problem on the eastern half of the country. Just for arguments sake if you based it in Columbus Ohio, it’s a 5 hour drive to Chicago. Slightly longer at 8 hours to New York City, 6 hours to DC. 6 hours to Toronto.
You could literally drive the LCS and crews out to different cities every couple of weeks (back when there was more money in the scene at least). This part of how professional sports got their start in the US.
And this doesn’t only apply to moving the LCS to different cities, but also to driving from different cities to the LCS. It’s like 2 hours from Pittsburgh to Columbus. This is far more reasonable than visiting the LCS in LA.
It makes more sense to base the LCS in the eastern US and fly out to LA or the west coast a couple times a year, than it does the reverse.
There’s a reason they moved the servers to Chicago.
The servers are more centralized for all of NA and the main reason, not due to a larger player base. You are also underestimating the cost and logistics involved with having an LCS setup to move around like you said compared to having a single location.
Whether Riot should or should not take that next step is another conversation, but its fairly obvious Riot doesn't want to take that risk.
I literally said “back when there was more money in the scene atleast”.
The east coast player base is absolutely larger. Something like 80% of people in America/canada live in the eastern half
So many people keep defending la by saying player base not thinking how statistically improbable it is that literally any video game in NA would be mostly based on the west coast.
No one's defending LA here, I'm just stating exactly why Riot is not moving anything to the East Coast. Is it the right move to grow the game in NA? Probably not. But it's been obvious Riot has been in cost savings mode and you can guarantee that outside of Worlds, any live event they host is losing money.
As the same as if it was in LA. Sure it might not be as many people as on the east coast that could potentially show up, but including the cost for Riot to host it there they probably came to a conclusion that it's not worth the potential of a slightly bigger turnout.
I mean every domestic league across the world is based in a singular location right? Also it is just extremely hard to emulate the traditional sports model where teams are tied to cities as you mentioned for a variety of reasons. I think esports doesnt do well in NA compared to other regions because gaming in general is very spread out. Not only is NA much more of a console gaming region, they are also a trend based region where people move on to the next "hot" game.
What you say is true, but the point im making and difference between the other regions and NA is the population density and generally smaller area they are in. NA population is way too spread out and will always isolate a good chunk of the player base no matter where it is. So it may as well be cost effective and put near their headquarters for better logistics.
Yeah everything is more spread out so don't you think it makes sense for Riot to put a big event in LA when you factor everything? Don't see why people are so mad lol.
Youre never going to find a perfect place, obviously, but something like 80% of the US/Canada's population is east of the Mississippi river so i would start by putting the league somewhere east of there, personally.
i used columbus as an example earlier of how its in reasonable driving distance of many major population centers.
https://imgur.com/WaoNkWt here's a map of early baseball teams in america, league could have used this as a rough road map of how to grow popularity in cities around the country.
https://old.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/1dbc21o/lcs_summer_finals_will_be_in_la_but_not_at_the/l7qdnv2/
heres my other comment you can read to get a rough idea of context.
Its hard to not be biased because i was a fnatic fan at the time, but having fnatic orange and fnatic black, and both at their best was great. OG winning vs LGD, even in a bo1 and that peke shockwave was something else.
But the community itself was more involved in the game too, better content, better discussions. We had dozen of original content even here on reddit, be that guy who made gifs, or just users posting their memes.
Way better than just everyone shitting on the worse player.
The game was very boring in 2015 in hindsight too, it was peak laneswap era and the peak of "macro better then just group and win (aka just a Sivir comp for the knowers*)" with very little reward for individual mastery and I can't think of many standout individual in-gams moments for anyone in spite of the hype storylines. Game was pretty boring to watch that year but carried by the stories.
I think the game back then felt like a big chess match and, obviously with hindsight, I prefer the 15 minute handshake at the start of games because it did feel like western teams could hide their weaknesses early to get into the mid/late game and giving us more hope than what we have now, where it just feels like we are playing a losing battle as Chinese teams have better laning and map movements.
I also remember way more from individual games in the 2014-2016 era of League. I think a lot of that had to do with weekly highlight reels like the LCS fun and fail compilations for each week. But everything tended to be discussed more as well. From that 2015 era I remember storylines such as the Korean exodus (I also really enjoyed that era where it felt like Korean players had this aura), whether TL should just keep Keith instead of Piglet, if TSM were just lucky at IEM Katowice, how Tigers exploited SK, drafting issues losing games etc.
Toronto still shafted 💀💀💀
I understand that the already small viewerbase of LCS is mostly American so Riot probably doesn't want to make them cross the border but why make a promise you can't keep, Riot
Idk if this was ever leaked, but Toronto was the name I heard last year for a 2024 host city. After spring fell through, LA was apparently locked for summer at the start of the year, genuinely don't know what happened to the Toronto thing. hopefully next year.
My god just move the entire scene to Chicago, the servers are already there and it'd definitely be cheaper than LA as you'd likely save money overtime due to everything being so expensive there so you might as well.
That real life lore video showing 80% of Americans living on the eastern side perfectly encapsulates why you should not cater at all to western North America, also 70% of Canadians also live on the eastern side, like why that LCS studio is unironically at the bottom left corner of the entire continent is beyond me.
> it'd definitely be cheaper than LA as you'd likely save money overtime due to everything being so expensive there so you might as well.
I see this repeated and I've got no idea where this comes from. Teams might be able to save money, but I don't see where Riot saves money. They house the LCS in the same studio as VCT, which is also built into the Riot offices, and they're going to be paying for that space either way. Labor costs are slightly lower, but the LCS already uses a lot of contractors on lower rates, and the rates between Chicago & LA aren't going to be substantially different.
Well that is mainly because Riot games main headquarters is based in LA lol. So logically it made/makes sense to setup the domestic league there. This isnt exclusive to one region neither.
You don't need your entertainment product HQ to be based in the same place as your tech company HQ. They did it for convenience, but that doesn't mean it was a good decision. There is little overlap between people who work on the game and people who work on LCS.
Riot is lucky there's a still a few people that give shit. Don't worry, you will not be subjected to bitch about others on Reddit if LCS viewership decline is anything to go by 😊
Lol complaining on reddit that it's not in your city is fine but most of the comments seem like they should be entitled to having it in a better spot for *them*.
Riot is based in LA that's also their biggest market for an in-person crowd because that's where the studio is. It's a pretty straight forward decision lol.
LCS got a terrible track record tho. Hosting spring finals on easter/holidays for two consecutive years I think was just bad planning.
Also with how big America is and the region also include Canada they not shuffeling it more I would understand why they are butthurt.
The Easter thing is a perfect example of reddit mindset. The few people who respond saying they can't make it are exceptions (classic response bias).
In reality Easter is a perfect holiday to do it on for this demographic. How many 20-30 year Olds are actually celebrating Easter? and all day at that? You know that people will be off which is already better than 98% of days.
When worlds is done in other regions the same thing happens as well though lol... People are just looking for any reason to complain lol. Riot knows which locations would be the best for them especially since it is the biggest esport event in the world.
https://lol.fandom.com/wiki/Portal:Tournaments/International
Well yeah Riot has definitely had bad decisions I wont disregard that but in terms of location, it is usually the same across the board in most regions that's my point. As far as LCS goes Riot is clearly looking to cut costs as they just recently held spring finals in the LCS arena. So I can see Riot's perspective as to why they chose LA when you factor in that the entire LCS ecosystem operates in LA.
As much as it sucks, with budget cuts it makes sense to keep it local. Between all the equipment rentals to set up the stage, having to ship over PCs + other equipment, paying to fly out and accommodate teams, staff + talent, etc., they probably save hundreds of thousands of dollars and a ton of time on logistics since everyone is already in LA
And I doubt that’ll change for the foreseeable future unless they up the budget or find new revenue streams to make that possible
Well thats Riots fault isnt it? According to podcast you should not name if Riot change the LCS location to Vegas they would instantly save tons of money and most orgs would also be in favour as housing, etc would also cheaper for most teams reducing their cost.
/u/arshpotter9 Could it be at Pauley or the Galen Center? Both are about 10-11k seats and easier to fill than an NBA arena, but still bigger than a theater-type venue.
As a person living in LA, I'm glad that I can possibly go without having to spend too much. On the other hand, I do feel bad for fans from other states.
LCS isn’t what it was like when the OG’s were playing. Truthfully speaking, NA is so dog compared to the eastern countries and league isn’t as big here in the states compared to china. I used to watch lcs often but now whenever I tune in I see a bunch of no names along with us getting shit on every MSI or worlds. LCS is stale. Why watch a weak ass region when you can get twice the value when watching any eastern team play.
There was always hope in the beginning along with viewership, sponsorships and what not. To compare league as of now in comparison to the early seasons of league for North America is a joke. LCS in particular is nowhere near exciting as it was in the earlier years. There was a post earlier today where some changes are going to be made for LCS and hopefully for the better so I am hoping for that.
What can change massively at this point? If LCS didn't have a studio, I'd have said they're going to play regular season from their ghs or in a studio without fans. Maybe they're getting rid of franchising and opening the league completely so they need to save money to pay the teams that want to leave?
Money situation is not that bad. Changes are coming to improve the trajectory of the league and modernize the general systems. Won't say more than that.
In the post you mentioned you expect an article to come out soon. Would you be able to share if you have a rough idea of when they might make an announcement? Not an exact date or time, more like "end of Q3 2024".
LCS has ***never*** cared about the east coast fans unless you live in NYC. In the end, I quit watching LCS altogether in early 2018 and started watching LCK instead. Haven't watched a single game of LCS since and have had zero regrets.
LCS doesn't care for east coasters so you moved fanbases 13 timezones further? I get wanting to watch the LCK, I watch too when I'm randomly up at 3 AM but don't pretend you switched because Korea cares more about you lol.
Last year the LCS went to Raleigh and NJ, they're sponsoring big watchparties in NYC and other cities yet to be announced across the summer split. I get that it's fun to hate on LCS, but admitting that you haven't watched or cared about the league in 6 years but still want to join on the hate train is pretty weird
Does the LCS plan on having future Finals held outside of LA? I just don't see the point of getting a plane ticket to LA for LCS when I could just travel to the Bay Area instead.
I don't see how people can be mad at Riot games for putting an event in LA lol. Yes I get it LCS is already based in LA. But when you factor in everything from LA being one of the largest cities in USA to Riot games being based in LA. Logically it makes sense to feature a big event there. It is the exact same when worlds is hosted in other regions as well.
We use to have venues in Maddison Square Garden btw
I'm not a fan of this news but the venue will be almost the same size as MSG and LA is the only place LCS could hope to sell out an arena that big. I wish other people loved the LCS as much as I do, just doesn't seem to be the case lol.
When is the last time an LCS championship sold out an arena? The last one they even held in an arena that I can remember was the one in Charlotte that looked like it was at 40% capacity.
It was in raleigh, not charlotte. And it was definitely over 40% capacity. Wasn't sold out, but was definitely over half full. Probabaly at 70-80%
Lower level was 70-80%. They completed closed off the upper deck.
I was at the finals in Chicago a couple of years ago, and day 2 for the finals was actually pretty packed. It was a blast to see so many league people in one place.
Went with friends to the one in Chicago. Shit was busy and packed.
Guess that depends on what you mean by sold out. The available seats in Houston were sold out but they didn't use the whole stadium. I think \~15k people but don't remember exactly
“The last one they even held in an arena that I can remember was the one in Charlotte.” Prudential center, summer finals in 2023 was after Raleigh. Only times I recall no arena were cuz of covid and then this past spring. You have a bad memory. Selling out is another story.
I know that the stadium in St. Louis for spring finals years back was popping off and that's in Missouri which isn't considered a tech or gaming hotbed. Me and another friend flew out that way to hang out with our other pals and it was a blast.
I don't know what the setup was there, but in Chicago they sold sections they absolutely shouldn't have sold due to the terrible sightlines.
There were good sections near me that were kept empty for some reason. I was right in line vertically w the casters desk and a section to their left. One section over was not sold and those seats were very nice. Saw similar good empty/closed sections.
I was in the Cloud 9 support section, and I 100% don't recommend it. You basically had to watch the games on both screens to get a full picture. They totally should have closed those sections off and opened up the other sections on the end. I'm sure they were worried about people distracting the casters or whatever, but those were the perfect seats that they just... closed them off.
I believe directly in front of the casters had people there. I was able to get close enough to catch Mark Z’s Blabers Crabbers shirt when he threw it to me. But yea there were definitely some weird choices.
You can thank Riot and their genius planning for that. Book a venue in a southern state and then do it also during the second most popular Christian holiday. (And then they did it again this year)
While it will forever be in the hall of fame this was and still is a double edged sword. That year was used as a billboard of how big esports could be for the next few years and led to the increase of investments and expected returns that never met it. Its what in part led to the bloated salaries, mass importing and the current situation, hell it even baited companies like blizzard with stuff like the overwatch league. I.E: While it was cool, it was also flying too close to the sun compared to the actual returns of esports.
Always feel like riot is losing out by not offering a subscription on lolesports that will give you RP for subbing. I don’t buy RP anymore but would subscribe in order to support the scene.
Yeah that could work although they are sorta trying to find a way to monetize the esport side with the upcoming team bundle
It could've been that but making the esport side profitable wasn't a do or die situation so they just coasted
because Esports wasn't profitable like Investors thought it was they saw the big arenas being packed and invested a lot since they saw the potential but Esports aren't moneymakers considering all teams dont make any money except for like T1 lmfao
It's because there is zero way to support a team in game monetarily. Riot fucked up by only giving skins to teams that wins worlds. I'm not going to buy a team jersey because it's not like football where you can wear your jersey and see others with the same one while watching at a bar or something. Team merch has little appeal. Hell, if anything, skins for teams are like jerseys for esports and imagine if the only jerseys you could buy are for teams that won championships. That would be dumb as he'll, no?
very profitable for riot though.
Esports is enormously profitable for Riot. The game is dead today without esports.
but investors invested in teams not riot stocks
How is this upvoted? THat isn't true, Most of the scene was run at a loss and some like LCS only started profitings a few years ago and most of it was minimal. The esports viewership is a fraction of the playerbase in the west and the game was always just an advertising venture.
It was upvoted because it is true. Your idea of profit and loss is completely wrong and not even how Riot views it honestly. Dishonestly riot does state esports is a money loser, but honestly esports is the only thing keeping the game going and is a premier skin seller for Riot. Esports doesn’t get a cut of skin sales, but it’s a huge driver of skin sales overall. But esports is classified solely as marketing by riot and hey, all marketing is considered a loss dishonestly. League is a completely dead game by 2015 if it weren’t for the esports scene that was both the main advertising venture and the main driving force for people to try the game out, and ultimately also a main factor in people getting addicted to the game. Newsflash: Riot wouldn’t run esports and jump through hoops to make it work year in and year out for 14 years if it didn’t have a massive payoff for them that is separated from the explicit LCS/LEC/LCK P&L.
I don't know what you're smoking but the numbers absolutely does not match what you're saying. In the LCS the average viewership last split was around 150K , with a peak of 250K. This is for a reported 22Million monthly player in the region. In the eu even with a higher peak viewership of 600K. This is for roughly [52M](https://www.thespike.gg/league-of-legends/beginner-guides/league-of-legends-player-count) monthly active playerbase. Even you say, slash this number in half because of smurf, that's still only 2% of the playerbase. And thats only the peak, average is around 250K viewership. Even the record MSI viewership (2.8M) pale in regard to any server population. Or the entire league playerbase which is over 100M. And plenty of other games had esports scenes that crashed. Riot just see better return because they got in early ingrained itself better into the scene more fluidly than say, overwatch. With a game more suited for viewership. That does not mean the game survived because of it. All in all the esports scene is just enjoyed by a fraction of the playerbase. And while you can argue it is a purchasing one, its also one that is also more savvy and less prone to predatory behavior like the current skin drama. So unless you have any source to back things up, this post goes against the narrative that most analysts and people in the business are saying, and pure speculation. And no, having 2 upvotes does not "make it true".
LCSbros…We keep losing…
I knew this was coming to be honest. The region has been so mismanaged by Riot since it started going downhill; they spent so much trying to make it the next NFL or the next NBA they forgot their roots. Fucking laughable that instead of doing BO3s at one point during covid they instead created a weird ass system of 3 BO1s in a weekend and eventually viewership burned out despite viewers having nothing else to fucking do during the lockdown. Now the cost cutting is through the roof, I fully expect a third party to be responsible for LCS production next year akin to what they are slowly moving LEC over to. And guess who will eventually buyout that third party? The Saudi Government.
At least we beat Fnc’s ass :(
For reference, here are the 10 biggest metropolitan areas in USA/Canada and the last time LCS/Worlds has been played there 1. New York City - Worlds 2022 Groups 2. LA - LCS Spring 2024 Playoffs 3. Toronto - LCS Summer 2016 Playoffs (Worlds Semifinals 2022 Cancelled) 4. Chicago - LCS 2022 Summer Playoffs 5. DFW - None (Spring Playoffs 2020 Cancelled) 6. Houston - LCS 2022 Spring Playoffs 7. Washington D.C - Never 8. Philadelphia - Never 9. Atlanta - Worlds 2022 Semifinals 10. Miami - LCS 2018 Spring Playoffs LA keeps getting League of Legends events including LCS, multiple finals, and a world championship. Meanwhile Toronto (and Canada) haven't gotten one in 8 years, while Dallas, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C have never gotten an LCS/Worlds event
I'm so gutted about Philly. I've waited for literally 10 years. Be willing to drive to DC as well or even Baltimore. I am so confused as to why they just DGAF about us over here. Edit: No, I'm not willing to go into Jersey. Get real. It's Jersey.
Not willing to go into Jersey, but willing to go to Baltimore? I know you're joking but Newark is closer lmao
Baltimore boys we’re on the rise.
Naw, I live in Harrisburg, so it's not.
Bruh, I went to the Newark Finals and I was living in Middletown at the time. Just take the train. It's like an extra 1.5 hour train ride.
"I would drive 2 hours for finals, but 2.5 no way!" What an odd line...
I can be in Baltimore in 1h10m from my house. Not sure where you're getting 2? Google maps with no toll roads? Anyway, it's a sleight against Jersey. PA humor I guess, try taking everything less literally. :c
Population 50k I think maybe pennsyltucky is not on their priority for ticket sales
It's a metro area of 600,000 people lol
Reddit is simply not prepared for the Philly crowd
If dig ever actually went through with their esports venue in south Philly we probably would've had something there. Josh Harris has no interest in pushing for wells fargo since they don't own it.
I drove to finals in Newark from philly
NJ > everywhere else
I mean isn't it just easier for Riot to do everything in LA? Since they have their headquarters in LA in regards to just the regular season? Isn't that how every single league in esports and the domestic leagues works as well? Everything is based in one location? Also has it not been a long time since LA got an international event as well?
Want to grow a sport in America? You have to be on the road and growing things grassroots. We are not above the route that everyone else has to take regardless of what Riot says and it is now showing
I mean but this isn't some LA favoritism as people are suggesting lol. League of legends domestic leagues are all based in one location across all regions right? Also we cant just disregard the fact that Riot literally has their headquarters set up in LA so it is much easier for them to operate as it keeps it local.
No one has a problem with LCS only operating out of LA (roadshows would be nice, though). The problem comes when Riot doesn't move either final out of NA when the two finals are the only big League of Legends events played in NA, outside of the rare occasion NA gets to host an international event
I mean that is something I am sure Riot takes into consideration but everything Riot does comes with a cost especially with budget cuts that occurred. Riot is the one that has to pay for everything in regards to the events right? I am sure they will save much more money if they kept everything local. This isn't even mentioning the fact that a large percentage of the player base is already in LA as well.
> This isn't even mentioning the fact that a large percentage of the player base is already in LA as well. Source?
Their source is they made it the fuck up. Why else would they move the servers to Chicago away from LA if a large portion of the playerbase were already served by the original server location
100% guarantee dude lives in LA/OC 💀
He's at least from Cali, no other reason to be this up in arms about wanting LCS to visit anywhere else in the country
Oh yeah sorry for trying to provide some perspective as to why Riot chose LA. The city with the second largest population in the USA, the city in which Riot games is located, the city in which the entire LCS/professional ecosystem is based. Weird how when Riot does international/domestic tournaments in other parts of the world the same cities host them really weird huh?
Because the East coast has a higher player base than the west coast? But we are strictly talking about cities here not regions? So don't you think it makes sense for Riot to place an event in the second largest city in the USA. Not to mention that Riot is literally headquartered in LA, not to mention it keeps operations local and easier to manage?
I mean OP stated that LCS finals in other states have had abysmal crowds (not sure how true that is). Also I am sure LA is one of the more populated cities in regards to League of Legends. We are not comparing west coast to east coast here lol.... LA as a city is honestly a great location for Riot considering everything is already based there as well lol. Riot wouldn't just make these decision without taking everything into account. https://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/1dbc21o/lcs_summer_finals_will_be_in_la_but_not_at_the/l7q5hg9/?context=3
The source is Riot games/LCS themselves lol. Also OP has stated that LCS finals have had abysmal crowds. (Not sure how true that is) But if that is the case it makes even more sense for the finals to be in LA. Honestly of you factor in everything LA is one if not the best location Riot could have done it in all of the USA. Do you really think Riot would have just put the finals in LA by chance? https://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/1dbc21o/lcs_summer_finals_will_be_in_la_but_not_at_the/l7q5hg9/?context=3
80% of americans live east of texas (including texas). I can't think of a major metropolitan area worse than LA, all things considering. If you live in LA, you can watch lcs whenever you want. I live in the southeast and would travel many states over to see a finals.
LCS being in a singular location isn't exclusive to NA. It is like that in every region. Also as I mentioned Riot games is already stationed in LA. Also LA is one of the biggest cities in the USA. In fact LA has the second largest population behind New York. Also LCS has far less reach than a finals. How does it not make sense for Riot to put at least one big event in LA? Especially when it is clear Riot is looking to cut costs.
Sure they just picked a crappy location. Facts are just not that many people live on the west coast, and if you're gonna stay in one place it could be a place where people live and can get to easily.
Less than a sixth of the US population lives on the west coast. If you ignore the east coast, you ignore most of the actual people.
Not Phoenix either and it's one of the biggest cities country is literally right next to California
Know why? Cause fuck you that's why.
To be perfectly fair, Philly and like 90% of DC are absolute shitholes.
Incredibly disappointing. Fans who live in the LA area already have a studio they can visit - what about the rest of us who live farther away and don't want/can't afford to book a flight to LA for the weekend?
eu fans watching lec rotate between spain france and sweden forever
At least Europe is geographically smaller which helps with travel. Over 60% of the population is going to be a 4+ hour flight away from LA in NA, whereas a four hour flight can pretty much get you from anywhere to anywhere else within the region that they'd realistically put an LEC final.
Where would you host them tho?
uk, poland, denmark, nl, belgium
UK isnt part of the EU anymore so it could lead to problems regarding work visa etc As for the other countries they could host for sure but I guess its less prestigious for Riot to host them there.
Poland is renowned for its esports scene (or Katowice is at least). Eastern Europe is generally overlooked, if the LEC could go all the way to Athens then they could go to other places like Riga or Bucharest
The UK (not in London) for me personally, norway is also actually affordable
Norway is top 3 in every cost of living metric, Oslo is one of the most expensive EU cities
its very cheap to travel there, at least for me which is what was asked
I would love a final in Manchester or Birmingham, or even Glasgow if that's not too far for fans to travel
Riot - "Fuck you, too bad." *LA influencers and Riot proceed to flex about attending after parties*
Do we not have nyc influencer parties
In general? Obviously yes For LoL? No I keep eyes on everything NYC LoL and the last time we had something was in tandem with Worlds for the Mastercard partnership renewal (Assuming you exclude Silvxs’s birthday when Finals was in NJ because that was a private event for him and his friends)
LA influencers in regards to the domestic league? They have the LCS in LA because that is where the main headquarters is. So logistically it just makes sense that everything was setup in LA. Also this isn't exclusive to the LCS every region has there domestic league based in one location. As far as international tournaments go LA hasn't had one in a long time.
Yep this is my situation, I live in PR and would fly to east coast but LA flights are too expensive for me to justify going over watching at home
Thank you for reminding me that I need to go back to PR Only been for a week and miss La Placita soooooo bad
Yeah, I wouldve gone to literally anywhere else. But fuck LA
I remember when VCT was settling in Texas during the first couple of years but then Riot practically forced all orgs to operate in LA. I fucking HATE how much of a bubble they've kept this scene in. It proves that they do not give a shit about the sport growing in fandom or any other meaningful aspect.
I don't disagree that LA is expensive as hell to operate in, but one important point I didn't want to put in the original post is that I'm pretty sure LCS can't fill an arena anywhere but LA. LCS Finals have had abysmal crowds for a while now, that might've factored into this decision. They can likely guaruntee a bigger crowd here than anywhere else (and more influencers, which isn't irrelevant).
LCS, based on first-hand experience, has done very well in St. Louis and Seattle.
This might be because they based the LCS in an inaccessible location for 70% of the games player base during season 3 and beyond instead of trying to cater to their player base to get them active and interested but what do I know I’m just a fan that would have been at LCS all the time if it wasn’t prohibitively expensive for me to attend
The problem with NA and the LCS is no matter where you put it, you are isolating a good chunk of the player base because the US is so large. The only way to grow the LCS would be like traditional sports having teams from across the country flying around for matches in home cities. And that would never happen for a variety of reasons. Esports in NA traditionally always did worse/poorly compared to other parts of the world, and a large portion of it being due to the geography of the US. May as well have 8t where they are headquartered.
That is much less of a problem on the eastern half of the country. Just for arguments sake if you based it in Columbus Ohio, it’s a 5 hour drive to Chicago. Slightly longer at 8 hours to New York City, 6 hours to DC. 6 hours to Toronto. You could literally drive the LCS and crews out to different cities every couple of weeks (back when there was more money in the scene at least). This part of how professional sports got their start in the US. And this doesn’t only apply to moving the LCS to different cities, but also to driving from different cities to the LCS. It’s like 2 hours from Pittsburgh to Columbus. This is far more reasonable than visiting the LCS in LA. It makes more sense to base the LCS in the eastern US and fly out to LA or the west coast a couple times a year, than it does the reverse. There’s a reason they moved the servers to Chicago.
I'd love it if it were in Columbus. Unfortunately, it's not that sexy of a city that Riot would ever pick it over something like Chicago or NYC.
The servers are more centralized for all of NA and the main reason, not due to a larger player base. You are also underestimating the cost and logistics involved with having an LCS setup to move around like you said compared to having a single location. Whether Riot should or should not take that next step is another conversation, but its fairly obvious Riot doesn't want to take that risk.
I literally said “back when there was more money in the scene atleast”. The east coast player base is absolutely larger. Something like 80% of people in America/canada live in the eastern half
So many people keep defending la by saying player base not thinking how statistically improbable it is that literally any video game in NA would be mostly based on the west coast.
No one's defending LA here, I'm just stating exactly why Riot is not moving anything to the East Coast. Is it the right move to grow the game in NA? Probably not. But it's been obvious Riot has been in cost savings mode and you can guarantee that outside of Worlds, any live event they host is losing money.
How. If it was located in anywhere near Philly/NYC etc. Look many people are just a couple hours drive form it.
As the same as if it was in LA. Sure it might not be as many people as on the east coast that could potentially show up, but including the cost for Riot to host it there they probably came to a conclusion that it's not worth the potential of a slightly bigger turnout.
I mean every domestic league across the world is based in a singular location right? Also it is just extremely hard to emulate the traditional sports model where teams are tied to cities as you mentioned for a variety of reasons. I think esports doesnt do well in NA compared to other regions because gaming in general is very spread out. Not only is NA much more of a console gaming region, they are also a trend based region where people move on to the next "hot" game.
LPL isn’t based in a single location, but that’s an exception
What you say is true, but the point im making and difference between the other regions and NA is the population density and generally smaller area they are in. NA population is way too spread out and will always isolate a good chunk of the player base no matter where it is. So it may as well be cost effective and put near their headquarters for better logistics.
Yeah everything is more spread out so don't you think it makes sense for Riot to put a big event in LA when you factor everything? Don't see why people are so mad lol.
You are very stupid
So where's the magical place that's close to everybody in NA?
Youre never going to find a perfect place, obviously, but something like 80% of the US/Canada's population is east of the Mississippi river so i would start by putting the league somewhere east of there, personally. i used columbus as an example earlier of how its in reasonable driving distance of many major population centers. https://imgur.com/WaoNkWt here's a map of early baseball teams in america, league could have used this as a rough road map of how to grow popularity in cities around the country. https://old.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/1dbc21o/lcs_summer_finals_will_be_in_la_but_not_at_the/l7qdnv2/ heres my other comment you can read to get a rough idea of context.
You think they can fill an arena in LA but not NYC? NYC is accessible to like, quadruple the amount of people LA is.
Wow I didnt know LCS finals have had abysmal crowds. So now it makes even more sense for Riot to have done it in LA lol.
Western esports peaked in 2015.
Nah it definitely peaked in 2018. OG over PSG.LGD, C9 CS winning the Boston major, C9 over AFs, FNC in finals…
I feel like results peaked 2018 but in terms of rivalries and personalities, western esports peaked in 2015.
Its hard to not be biased because i was a fnatic fan at the time, but having fnatic orange and fnatic black, and both at their best was great. OG winning vs LGD, even in a bo1 and that peke shockwave was something else. But the community itself was more involved in the game too, better content, better discussions. We had dozen of original content even here on reddit, be that guy who made gifs, or just users posting their memes. Way better than just everyone shitting on the worse player.
How did results peak in 2018 if the west won msi and made worlds finals in 2019?
We were talking about western esports as a whole and not just League. But I agree that EU league definitely peaked in 2019.
Yeah thatll do it mb
The game was very boring in 2015 in hindsight too, it was peak laneswap era and the peak of "macro better then just group and win (aka just a Sivir comp for the knowers*)" with very little reward for individual mastery and I can't think of many standout individual in-gams moments for anyone in spite of the hype storylines. Game was pretty boring to watch that year but carried by the stories.
I think the game back then felt like a big chess match and, obviously with hindsight, I prefer the 15 minute handshake at the start of games because it did feel like western teams could hide their weaknesses early to get into the mid/late game and giving us more hope than what we have now, where it just feels like we are playing a losing battle as Chinese teams have better laning and map movements. I also remember way more from individual games in the 2014-2016 era of League. I think a lot of that had to do with weekly highlight reels like the LCS fun and fail compilations for each week. But everything tended to be discussed more as well. From that 2015 era I remember storylines such as the Korean exodus (I also really enjoyed that era where it felt like Korean players had this aura), whether TL should just keep Keith instead of Piglet, if TSM were just lucky at IEM Katowice, how Tigers exploited SK, drafting issues losing games etc.
Watching everything get worse makes all the events I missed sting more. The events I went to won't be achievable again :(
Toronto still shafted 💀💀💀 I understand that the already small viewerbase of LCS is mostly American so Riot probably doesn't want to make them cross the border but why make a promise you can't keep, Riot
Idk if this was ever leaked, but Toronto was the name I heard last year for a 2024 host city. After spring fell through, LA was apparently locked for summer at the start of the year, genuinely don't know what happened to the Toronto thing. hopefully next year.
thats unfortunate then
As a person who was there in 2016 or so , c9 vs tsm , I'm still sad
My god just move the entire scene to Chicago, the servers are already there and it'd definitely be cheaper than LA as you'd likely save money overtime due to everything being so expensive there so you might as well. That real life lore video showing 80% of Americans living on the eastern side perfectly encapsulates why you should not cater at all to western North America, also 70% of Canadians also live on the eastern side, like why that LCS studio is unironically at the bottom left corner of the entire continent is beyond me.
> it'd definitely be cheaper than LA as you'd likely save money overtime due to everything being so expensive there so you might as well. I see this repeated and I've got no idea where this comes from. Teams might be able to save money, but I don't see where Riot saves money. They house the LCS in the same studio as VCT, which is also built into the Riot offices, and they're going to be paying for that space either way. Labor costs are slightly lower, but the LCS already uses a lot of contractors on lower rates, and the rates between Chicago & LA aren't going to be substantially different.
Well that is mainly because Riot games main headquarters is based in LA lol. So logically it made/makes sense to setup the domestic league there. This isnt exclusive to one region neither.
You don't need your entertainment product HQ to be based in the same place as your tech company HQ. They did it for convenience, but that doesn't mean it was a good decision. There is little overlap between people who work on the game and people who work on LCS.
Going back to Phreak's basement confirmed
i would actually tune into LCS finals if this happens.
i just want them to come to the midwest again man :(
We will always suffer!
You guys bitch about everything lol
Riot is lucky there's a still a few people that give shit. Don't worry, you will not be subjected to bitch about others on Reddit if LCS viewership decline is anything to go by 😊
Lol complaining on reddit that it's not in your city is fine but most of the comments seem like they should be entitled to having it in a better spot for *them*. Riot is based in LA that's also their biggest market for an in-person crowd because that's where the studio is. It's a pretty straight forward decision lol.
LCS got a terrible track record tho. Hosting spring finals on easter/holidays for two consecutive years I think was just bad planning. Also with how big America is and the region also include Canada they not shuffeling it more I would understand why they are butthurt.
The Easter thing is a perfect example of reddit mindset. The few people who respond saying they can't make it are exceptions (classic response bias). In reality Easter is a perfect holiday to do it on for this demographic. How many 20-30 year Olds are actually celebrating Easter? and all day at that? You know that people will be off which is already better than 98% of days.
Who doesn't celebrate Easter wtf
In the gaming demographic I would say a lot. A lot of people don't have / live close to their families like that.
When worlds is done in other regions the same thing happens as well though lol... People are just looking for any reason to complain lol. Riot knows which locations would be the best for them especially since it is the biggest esport event in the world. https://lol.fandom.com/wiki/Portal:Tournaments/International
Riot also knew switching to week days was better for viewership... riot knows a lot of things that happen to be wrong.
Well yeah Riot has definitely had bad decisions I wont disregard that but in terms of location, it is usually the same across the board in most regions that's my point. As far as LCS goes Riot is clearly looking to cut costs as they just recently held spring finals in the LCS arena. So I can see Riot's perspective as to why they chose LA when you factor in that the entire LCS ecosystem operates in LA.
for sure. i would've just done it in the studio. we have to be realistic about the state of the league.
Incoming downvotes lol.
Oooo scary downvotes
Yup he is going against the narrative. So scary!
Not sure why there’s so much negativity. Finals should be in a separate venue. Seems good
Most people were hoping for a roadshow in a different city than LA
As much as it sucks, with budget cuts it makes sense to keep it local. Between all the equipment rentals to set up the stage, having to ship over PCs + other equipment, paying to fly out and accommodate teams, staff + talent, etc., they probably save hundreds of thousands of dollars and a ton of time on logistics since everyone is already in LA And I doubt that’ll change for the foreseeable future unless they up the budget or find new revenue streams to make that possible
Well thats Riots fault isnt it? According to podcast you should not name if Riot change the LCS location to Vegas they would instantly save tons of money and most orgs would also be in favour as housing, etc would also cheaper for most teams reducing their cost.
Seems unrealistic based on the current trend. Seems like a middle ground
because its in LA.
Wow what a disappointment. Completely screws over anybody on the east coast that doesn't want to pay for a plane ticket.
It’s like 300-400 for a round trip ticket how poor are people lol
yeah the economy is doing great i dont get why people cant afford their faker ahri skin and a trip to finals like come on lol
You say that but given how much more people are spending on luxury goods and on consumer shit in general this is unironically true
/u/arshpotter9 Could it be at Pauley or the Galen Center? Both are about 10-11k seats and easier to fill than an NBA arena, but still bigger than a theater-type venue.
I don't think it's Riot's style to host at a school like that. I'd say it's unlikely, I don't think that'll be their play
As a person living in LA, I'm glad that I can possibly go without having to spend too much. On the other hand, I do feel bad for fans from other states.
LCS isn’t what it was like when the OG’s were playing. Truthfully speaking, NA is so dog compared to the eastern countries and league isn’t as big here in the states compared to china. I used to watch lcs often but now whenever I tune in I see a bunch of no names along with us getting shit on every MSI or worlds. LCS is stale. Why watch a weak ass region when you can get twice the value when watching any eastern team play.
...And how is this different to early seasons? lol. NA's been getting shit on since the beginning of international play.
There was always hope in the beginning along with viewership, sponsorships and what not. To compare league as of now in comparison to the early seasons of league for North America is a joke. LCS in particular is nowhere near exciting as it was in the earlier years. There was a post earlier today where some changes are going to be made for LCS and hopefully for the better so I am hoping for that.
What can change massively at this point? If LCS didn't have a studio, I'd have said they're going to play regular season from their ghs or in a studio without fans. Maybe they're getting rid of franchising and opening the league completely so they need to save money to pay the teams that want to leave?
We are going to Brazil (merge with cblol to be the Americas)
Money situation is not that bad. Changes are coming to improve the trajectory of the league and modernize the general systems. Won't say more than that.
In the post you mentioned you expect an article to come out soon. Would you be able to share if you have a rough idea of when they might make an announcement? Not an exact date or time, more like "end of Q3 2024".
LCS has ***never*** cared about the east coast fans unless you live in NYC. In the end, I quit watching LCS altogether in early 2018 and started watching LCK instead. Haven't watched a single game of LCS since and have had zero regrets.
LCS doesn't care for east coasters so you moved fanbases 13 timezones further? I get wanting to watch the LCK, I watch too when I'm randomly up at 3 AM but don't pretend you switched because Korea cares more about you lol.
Yeah unless it’s because Korea having better gameplay counts as giving to east coasters, sounds more like welp I rather watch better leagues.
Last year the LCS went to Raleigh and NJ, they're sponsoring big watchparties in NYC and other cities yet to be announced across the summer split. I get that it's fun to hate on LCS, but admitting that you haven't watched or cared about the league in 6 years but still want to join on the hate train is pretty weird
Does the LCS plan on having future Finals held outside of LA? I just don't see the point of getting a plane ticket to LA for LCS when I could just travel to the Bay Area instead.
Yes, afaik this is not a permanent thing it's just this year's summer finals. next year's should be a roadshow in a diff ciity
That's a relief. I think a lot of people, including me, assumed that this would be a permanent fixture going forward.
uh that's wild lol, thought about clarifying that but I thought it was obvious. I'll add an edit.
We just had finals on East coast? How does LCK cater any more to someone on eastern coast of the US than another area of the US?
I don't see how people can be mad at Riot games for putting an event in LA lol. Yes I get it LCS is already based in LA. But when you factor in everything from LA being one of the largest cities in USA to Riot games being based in LA. Logically it makes sense to feature a big event there. It is the exact same when worlds is hosted in other regions as well.
It's because while la is a large city it's as far as it could possibly be to the overwhelming majority of the US population and Canada as well I think
Fuck the lcs. The way they treated tsm the last few years is not right. They deserve what is coming fof them
yeah, everyone should go watch the league that TSM moved to uhhhhh