The world’s most viewed esports tournament is coming back to North America for the first time since 2013. But this time, it will tour across the United States with stops in some of the biggest cities.
The 2016 League of Legends World Championship will take place throughout September and October, with stops in San Francisco, Chicago, New York City, and Los Angeles. Its New York and Los Angeles legs will see League of Legends return to Madison Square Garden and the Staples Center, both of which it’s visited in the past three years.
In San Francisco, 16 of League of Legends’ best teams from around the world—including North America, Europe, Korea, China, and Taiwan—will perform at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. And in Chicago, the top eight of those (two from each group) will compete at the Chicago Theatre.
The top four will move on to Madison Square Garden on Oct. 21, with the final two competing at the Staples Center on Oct 29. Riot Games, the game’s developer, held its North American finals at Madison Square Garden last year, and the finals for the 2013 World Championship occurred at the Staples Center.
This will be the game’s sixth championship. Over the past five years, the month-long spectacle has grown increasingly year to year. In 2015, it accumulated 360 million live hours of coverage viewed, with more than 334 million total daily unique viewers throughout the month.
League of Legends viewership makes it the biggest esport in the world. It is significantly bigger than its direct competitors and fellow MOBA games, namely Dota 2 and Heroes of the Storm.
