Riot Games has revealed that the 2022 League of Legends World Championship will take place in four locations throughout North America. The seven-year contract was confirmed Monday in an announcement made by Riot Games. This marks the first time that League of Legends has been hosted outside of Europe, China, and South Korea. North America will be one of four locations where the final two seasons of the League Championship Series (LCS) will take place before culminating in a global grand final played at a stadium or arena near you in 2022.
Although there is no news yet on specific locations for each season, it is expected that North America’s two grand finals would be played at Madison Square Garden and Times Square respectively as both games are likely to have more than 15 million concurrent viewers this year. “It’s exciting to bring the grand final to a new continent,” said Scott Gelb, Riot Games’ chief financial officer. “With New York and Chicago competing for the LCS slots, it’s safe to say that the North America region will be in full force when it comes to qualifying for 2022.”
For those unaware, Riot Games’ LCS is split up into two competitive seasons per year. Each LCS season has a prize pool of $1 million USD (although this value increases as more teams are invited). The first season of each year is typically where rookies and veterans compete for their chance to play in the world championships. A total of 12 teams are involved in this portion of the league. The second season is where the top teams from each region’s LCS compete against one another for a chance to represent their region at the world championship.
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It was confirmed that there would be two groups of three teams in each of the four regions that it will take place in (including North America), while also being a best-of-three format.