League of Legends US Championship Series Will Not Feature a Live Audience

Riot Games announced that the final two matches of the League of Legends United States (US) Championship Series (LCS) which are scheduled to take place later this month, will not be held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The event is being moved to the LCS Arena in Los Angeles that will not feature a live crowd. All ticket holders will be issued full refunds by the publisher. The news might come as a disappointment for fans who were excited to go to the live event as the global pandemic has put a halt on live events in not just esports, but almost all forms of entertainment.

Why Riot Games is moving LAN events for LCS NA

On 8th Aug 2021, Riot Games revealed in its statement that it scheduled the LCS Championship as a "road show" with fans and made the decision to move forward based on the very promising roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine in the Spring. However, over the past month, the studio has been monitoring the ongoing surge of COVID-19 cases across the US. LCS Commissioner, Chris Greeley said, “Given the current state of affairs, we cannot in good conscience conduct a massive fan event at this time. After much consideration, it is with extreme disappointment that we’ve elected to relocate the LCS Championship event from the Prudential Center to the LCS Arena.”

Chris Greeley revealed that Riot Games assessed the risks and it concluded that no set of protocols or plans would allow the company to deliver the event without jeopardizing the health of Riot staff and fans. He expects other sporting events and shows to press on through the period. He feels that the LCS Arena in Los Angeles is a safer environment and it will help ensure that the Worlds 2021 representatives will be healthy for their trip to China. Riot Games is working with the Prudential Center to refund the tickets and more details will be shared with fans who purchased tickets soon.