Get ready, LCS fans. Riot Games is making some big changes ahead of the 2020 LCS Spring Split that could have a significant impact on the North American competitive League of Legends scene.
Riot has confirmed that it’s extending LCS weekends to three days, broadcasting on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Additionally, NA Academy games will be featured throughout the entire weekend, with games being played from Friday to Monday.
The weekend starts off on Friday with the Academy Rush, which will have the new Red Zone format. This format will have four Academy games playing at the same time, with the casters jumping between the action. At the end of the day, one Academy game will be shown in full. These will start at 7pm CT, but will be played online.
Only four LCS games will be played per day over Saturday and Sunday, with one full in-studio Academy game broadcast on both days as well. The pre-game show for Saturday’s games will start at 3:30pm CT and the matches will start half an hour later. Sunday’s games start two hours earlier at 2pm CT.
Monday nights are now known as Monday Night League and will be the new marquee night for LCS supporters with two key matchups of the week being played at 7:30pm CT. Riot was inspired by “the way Monday Night Football changed the NFL,” according to LCS commissioner Chris Greeley, and it wanted to create a similar experience for fans.
Before Monday Night League, three more Academy games will be broadcast from the LCS Studios, starting at 4pm CT. “[This new format] is going to allow us to put every single Academy team on stage every week,” Greeley told Dot Esports.
The 2020 LCS Spring Split begins on Saturday, Jan. 25.
