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Riot Games, the developer of popular esports titles League of Legends (LoL) and VALORANT, has announced that it will be revising its esports broadcasting schedule. The changes come as the organizers look to the 2023 League of Legends and Valorant of the seasons.
The game developer made a statement on their official website, highlighting the possible changes to the broadcast schedule for the 2023 LOL season.
“We’re pleased to announce that we’ll be livestreaming LoL Esports in EMEA SEVEN days a week, with the LEC taking place on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays during the regular season of all splits moving forward, with Fridays also being used during the Split Playoffs,” Riot Games said.
“For our Winter Split, we’ll be kicking things off on January 21, with all roads leading to the Winter Split Playoffs that will begin on February 20 and the Winter Split Playoff Final on February 26!
“Extending our LEC broadcast over three days means we can offer up to 15 games a week – bringing even more excitement and hype matchups to each of you. In addition, depending on what stage of the split is being played, we’ll be offering either five best-of-ones, two best-of-threes or a single best-of-five series each LEC day! It’s also worth highlighting that our biggest moments, our Split Finals and Season Final, will all be hosted on Sundays.”
The organization had been hard at work analyzing mountains of data to enhance the spectator experience for esports fans. After two years of supporting its competitive gaming communities, the company has decided to revamp the start times for the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) and League of Legends Esports leagues. According to Riot Games, the changes are intended to align with viewer preferences and offer new opportunities to produce innovative content throughout the year.
“With the growth of our esports, we are revamping our broadcast scheduling practices to better serve fans, the organization stated.
“This will lead to: broadcasts that reduce overlaps, schedules that match viewer preferences, new opportunities to explore formats and fresh content, updated schedules across leagues and games for the 2023 season.
“In the coming days and weeks, you will see leagues across LoL Esports and VALORANT Champions Tour share their plans for 2023.”
The North American LCS for League of Legends will be held on Thursdays and Fridays at noon Pacific Time, while the LEC will shift to the weekend with matches on Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays at 6 PM Central European Time. Meanwhile, the start times for CBLoL and LCK have also undergone some changes.
As for the VALORANT Champions Tour, the Americas circuit will kick off every Saturday, Sunday, and Monday at noon PT, with the EMEA region battling it out on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at 6 PM CET. And for those in the Pacific region, the same days as the Americas circuit will see matches starting at 6 PM Korean Standard Time.
According to the publisher, this transformation allows for a wider range of broadcast options, enables cross-regional storytelling, and makes it easier for co-streamers to join in on the fun. Plus, it enhances the viewing experience for all viewers.
In the next few days and weeks, Riot Games will unveil its highly anticipated plans for the future. In the meantime, the company has teamed up with Amazon to host the RE/LOAD VALORANT community event at the end of the year. It had also announced earlier its plans to self-publish LoL and Teamfight Tactics in Southeast Asia starting in 2023.
