LCS, LEC New Schedules Revealed by Riot Games

League of Legends fans will have to check their calendars often or set up reminders since Riot Games confirmed that it shall be shifting the esports broadcast schedule globally with the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) headlining these changes. Notably, Riot Games has made changes to the broadcast schedules of League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC), League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK), and League of Legends Pro League (LPL) for 2023. However, the changes to LCK and LPL schedules are not as drastic as the western leagues.

Riot stated that it is revamping its broadcast scheduling practices to better serve the fans and that this will help reduce the overlap of broadcasts, and come up with new opportunities to explore new formats and fresh content, among others. 

In its blog post, Riot Games also revealed findings about the viewership habits of League of Legends esports fans.

Changes to the League of Legends esports schedule in 2023

Riot Games stated that it went on a long journey across all of its internal esports teams, armed with data, to gather additional input on how the 2023 events should be scheduled. Additionally, it also surveyed fans across the world and reviewed historical performance.

Riot Games noted the following core findings:

• Most fans tend to follow their favorite game regardless of region. 

• The top two priorities for most fans are to watch their favorite team and to see the biggest matchups of the week. 

• Binge-watching every weekend and every league is not sustainable. 

• Weekdays are an underserved opportunity. 

• Picking what to watch can be a chore.

Initially, there were rumors that the LCS might be moved to weekdays, and Riot’s new post confirmed the change. In 2023, Riot Games will have a spread-out schedule to fit in all the LCS and LEC games in a week, instead of the games crammed into the weekends.

Broadcast schedules for 2023: Major regions including the LCS

In the League of Legends esports ecosystem, the biggest change is for the LCS which will move from the weekend format to a weekday setup. Notably, these games will be broadcast at noon PT. While most fans have questioned this move, Riot Games is confident that it has the backing of data for this change. Meanwhile, the LEC will do away with the two-day schedule and adopt a three-day format. The following are the schedules for LoL Esports in 2023:

• LCS - Thursday and Friday starting at 12:00 PM PT

• LEC - Saturday, Sunday, and Monday starting at 6:00 PM CET

• CBLoL [Campeonato Brasileiro de League of Legends] - Saturday & Sunday starting at 1 pm BRT

• LPL - Monday-Friday starting at 5 pm CST and Saturday & Sunday starting at 3 pm CST

• LCK - New start times but the weekly schedule remains unchanged. Match 2 on weekdays will shift 30 minutes earlier from 8 pm KST to 7.30 pm KST. On the weekends, Match 1 will be moved from 5 pm KST to 3 pm KST and Match 2 will be moved from 8 pm KST to 5.30 pm KST.

Riot Games is confident that the changes to the broadcast system will allow it to explore different formats, increase cross-regional storytelling, and make it easier for co-streamers. “While we don’t expect every call to be perfect, we believe the changes we’re making will improve the viewing experience across all leagues. Where they fall short, we hope you will tell us and we’ll be listening.” stated Riot.