by The League of Legends Championship Series 2024 season is set to kick off with the LCS Spring split on Saturday, January 20.
For the next season, the LCS returns to its traditional weekend schedule, albeit with fewer teams. However, despite the many issues the North American league has to deal with, it will still offer plenty of LoL betting opportunities.
ALSO: LEC Winter 2024 betting preview
LCS 2024 format changes
Organizers have yet to reveal any significant format changes for the 2024 season; however, the league will play out differently than it did in 2023. After one year of playing midweek games, the LCS returns to its old Friday–Sunday schedule having noticed a significant drop in viewership.
In the 2022 season, the league’s viewership peaked at over 387,000 for the LCS Spring split. Last year, neither split broke 300,000 viewers, with the LCS 2023 Summer split drawing fewer than 224,000. It marked the lowest peak viewership over the last six seasons.
This mainly had to do with the changed schedule and times. Last year, all regular-season games were scheduled from Thursday to Saturday between 14:00 and 18:00 PST, making it difficult for local fans to follow the action.
Another significant change for the 2024 LCS season is the league’s downsizing from 10 teams to eight following the exodus of the Golden Guardians and Evil Geniuses. The league has decided not to seek replacement teams, which might bring some format changes.
LCS 2024 Spring teams
For the first time since 2014, the LoL Championship Series will feature just eight teams. Besides the Golden Guardians and Evil Geniuses leaving the league, TSM
— the LCS’s most successful team — decided to shut down their LoL division in September and sold their spot to Shopify Rebellion.
- 100 Thieves
- Cloud9
- Dignitas
- FlyQuest
- Immortals
- NRG
- Shopify Rebellion
- Team Liquid
LCS 2024 Spring outright odds
There has been some significant roster-shuffling within the LCS ahead of the next season. Even so, the top League of Legends betting sites aren’t forecasting too many changes at the top end of the standings.
Despite their shock loss against NRG Esports in the LCS 2023 Championship final, Cloud9 enter the next season as the +125 favourites to reclaim their throne. C9 have established themselves as the most dominant team in the LCS over the last year and now enter the 2024 season with an even scarier lineup.
Priced at +350, NRG Esports are tipped as the second-favourites to claim the LCS 2023 Spring title. Team Liquid (+500) and the new-look FlyQuest (+600) are the only others teams priced in single digits.
100 Thieves (+1200) and Dignitas (+2000) are the most likely challengers among the outside chances. That leaves Immortals and the newcomers, Shopify Rebellion, as the two complete underdogs at +3000 apiece.
- Cloud9 – +125
- NRG – +350
- Team Liquid – +500
- FlyQuest – +600
- 100 Thieves – +1200
- Dignitas – +2000
- Immortals – +3000
- Shopify Rebellion – +3000
LCS Spring 2024 odds courtesy of BetOnline
LCS 2023 Spring predictions
Seeing Cloud9 priced as the favourites ahead of LCS 2024 Spring is hardly surprising. Robert “Blaber” Huang and his crew were by far the best-performing LCS team of 2023, winning the LCS Spring Playoffs and both regular seasons with a combined record of 27-9.
For the 2024 season, Cloud9 have made two further roster improvements. They have replaced the problematic mid laner Jang “EMENES” Min-soo with former Evil Geniuses star Joseph Joon “jojopyun” Pyun and re-signed North America’s best support player, Philippe “VULCAN” Laflamme.
NRG, while weaker on paper, could be tricky for Cloud9. NRG weren’t expected to do much last season, yet they won the LCS Championship. And like Cloud9, NRG have made some improvements to their lineup, adding support Choi “huhi” Jae-hyun to strengthen an already potent bottom side.
Based on last season’s results, Cloud9 and NRG are the teams to watch, but Team Liquid and FlyQuest shouldn’t be ignored either.
Team Liquid had an unfortunate season and struggled to reach their ceiling. Now, with a new top side in Jepon “Impact” Eon-young and Eom “UmTi” Seong-hyeong, TL look far more dangerous, but perhaps they have fallen into the same trap as other LCS teams that have spent big on Korean imports only to fall apart.
This was the case with FlyQuest. They appear to have learned from their mistakes, however, putting together a Western lineup with experienced talent in Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen and Gabriël “Bwipo” Rau and surrounding them with young talent.
All four of those teams have very high expectations, but there are a few more question marks above Liquid and FlyQuest and their projects.
100 Thieves, Dignitas, Immortals and Shopify Rebellion all have enough talent to be competitive in LCS 2024 Spring, but they can’t compare to the top four squads. 100 Thieves, in particular, will have a lot to prove after forming a roster of young and unproven talent.
With League of Legends Season 14 introducing significant changes to in-game items, map layout and overall gameplay dynamic, there’s no telling how the LCS 2024 Spring will play out. But the outright betting markets give a good idea of which teams should do well.
