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Riot Games has announced that the popular LCS Arena which has come to be the home of the League of Legends Championship Series, will now be known as the Riot Games Arena.
“The LCS Arena has been renamed the Riot Games Arena as we welcome our friends from VCT Americas,” the organization announced.
In 2023, Riot Games plans to prioritize pro-League of Legends and Valorant as its main esports programs, especially in North America where they will coexist in the same space.
The LCS and VCT Americas League will both be held at the newly renamed Riot Games Arena, starting in 2023. The venue will undergo a complete renovation, including the addition of an 18-foot-high stage that can be customized for each esports event and over 1,000 LED screens.
This information was announced in a schedule update for the LCS posted by the Head of Riot Games for the Americas region, Raul Fernandez.
“Next year, the league will be sharing its space with VCT Americas, so we felt the time was right for a makeover, featuring a stage that transforms to fit the custom layout of each esport,” Fernadez said.
“The new interior — now dubbed the Riot Games Arena — will debut on stream during the Global Kickoff Event on January 10-11.
“I don’t want to spoil the surprise for fans, but let’s say that the new 18’ high stage with over 1000 LED screens is pushing the space to the absolute limit.”
Both esports have attracted significant attention with their new schedules, with the VCT Americas League being broadcast in the afternoon/early evening from Saturday to Monday and the LCS moving to Thursdays and Fridays (and sometimes Wednesdays).
The LCS schedule change has caused some concerns among the NA League community, with LCS caster Isaac “Azael” Cummings Bentley expressing fears about the potential impact on viewership.
“LCS moving to weekdays is scary,” Azael said.
“It’s a change I raised a ton of concerns about internally, & it’s one that makes me worried for the future of the league that I love, and for my career as an LCS caster.
“I was left with a lot of questions about what will happen to the LCS next.
“There’s data showing as many or even more viewers in some cases are watching Twitch on weekday, but how will this apply to our audience?
“Will the average viewer habits of Twitch reflect that of the LCS? Will we be able to gain hold of the attention of a new crop of viewers as a result of the changes?
“Are those folks even interested in esports vs the streams they already enjoy?
“There’s a ton of questions left to be answered, and honestly only time will really tell how things will pan out.”
However, Riot Esports recently conducted a deep dive and confirmed that “viewership habits and fan expectations had changed,” according to the report.
It was discovered that LCS viewers consume a significant amount of content during the weekdays, similar to their weekend consumption habits. Furthermore, peak viewing times have shifted to align with the changing lifestyles of fans.
The modeling showed that by moving the LCS to Thursday and Friday and eliminating overlapping broadcasts, the league would have access to more available fans and viewers than if it had remained on a weekend broadcast schedule.
Comparing the schedules for European and North American Riot esports, it seems that the LCS has the least favorable times for potential viewership.
While the LEC and VCT EMEA both take place at 6pm Central European Time on weekends and weekdays respectively, the LCS only occurs on weekdays during the mid-day for its specific region.
Of the four leagues for NA/EMEA League and VALORANT, the LCS is the only one with these scheduling limitations.
Additionally, the LEC will maintain its own studio in Berlin, while a new studio for VCT EMEA will be constructed in a different location. However, LCS will now have to share a studio.
As it is quite an expensive endeavor to rent or own a space in Los Angeles, and it seems that the former LCS Arena is undergoing significant renovations.
For the 2023 Spring Split, the LCS will have the exclusive use of the space due to the VCT kickoff event in Sao Paulo, Brazil taking the place of the first split for the inaugural season.
