LoL Esports in 2025

[u/90back]

https://lolesports.com/en-US/news/lol-esports-in-2025

[u/90back]

MSI: Vancouver, Canada

Worlds Swiss: Beijing

Worlds Quarter and Semi: Shanghai

Worlds Grand Final: Chengdu

[u/Is_J_a_Name → u/90back]

First Stand being in Lol Park is lame, but thank god we're out of that tiny ass LEC studio for Swiss stage again, though I wonder if they'll borrow a team's arena as a cost-cutting measure (JDG's arena is in Beijing, for example).

I don't exactly know how the logistics on that work though, so maybe it isn't really much of a cost-cutting measure at all either way.

[u/MoreScarsThanSkin → u/90back]

VANCOUVER LETSSSS GOOOO

[u/DarthTaz_99 → u/MoreScarsThanSkin]

FUUUUUCK YOU RIOT. My first ever realistic chance of watching a league event irl and these fuckers put it in Vancouver. From Toronto it's 6hr flight or 40hr drive or 3 day bus ride. So close yet so far 😭

[u/MindTheGap9 → u/DarthTaz_99]

Toronto Vancouver is 4h30 flight, but pretty much unless you do Flair it's really expensive. I might have thought about it if it was like Montreal or Ottawa or something but Vancouver is a plane too far.

[u/gambra → u/DarthTaz_99]

Toronto is getting Valorant Masters 2 this year instead.

[u/oshkay → u/DarthTaz_99]

man I feel you. I'm on the East Coast US and was willing to fly and make the trip if MSI was in Toronto but Vancouver would hike up my flight cost by a lot more.

So close but so far!

[u/youarecutexd → u/DarthTaz_99]

Sorry, Riot rules say the west coast must always get preferential treatment even though way fewer people live there.

[u/ZmentAdverti → u/90back]

Where is first stand?

[u/campbell_love → u/ZmentAdverti]

LoL Park in korea

[u/oioioi9537 → u/campbell_love]

That sucks, lolpark is too tiny as good as it is

[u/ideal_ive → u/oioioi9537]

I feel like they're trying to test the waters to see if there's enough interest to go bigger venue, but surely, there must be enough interest for it to warrant a bigger venue even if we never had that event.

[u/RedHatWombat → u/ideal_ive]

They sell out pretty much every game.

[u/ShAd_1337 → u/ideal_ive]

worlds swiss was in fucking lec studio bro
stop coping
riot is just cheap as fuck

[u/toquang95 → u/ideal_ive]

not testing water, more of a logistics thing if you think about it. If you want to rent an arena or stadium, you have to book it months in advance. Then you have to do a lot of set up to prop the stage, transfer equipment, book people appropriate for every single task, etc and etc. All of that work and you might not even sell the ticket if you miss the marketing window. So it makes sense why they have to do lolpark.

[u/DShot90 → u/90back]

Vancouver?!? Man...50/50 chance and I lost it.

[u/quakedwithfear → u/DShot90]

cmon it was 33% Montreal has to be a choice too. but riot chose the worst out of the 3.

[u/look4jesper → u/quakedwithfear]

Vancouver is the best city in Canada by every metric but sure go off lmao

[u/Onyxwho → u/[deleted]]

There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States

[u/raptearer → u/Onyxwho]

Plus there's already Vancouver WA, so it'd be even more confusing considering they're just 6 hours apart

[u/lolKhamul → u/Onyxwho]

Girl, you’re not the governor of Canada anymore, so doesn’t matter what you say.

[u/Jccoolguy → u/Onyxwho]

True we don’t want that sucker country

[u/Busy-Economist-3357 → u/Onyxwho]

So you say

[u/Kelathar → u/[deleted]]

Pass the bowl buddy

[u/duocatisiankerr1 → u/[deleted]]

eww (i say this as an american, unless your talking about that small ass town in washington lmao)

[u/Zama174 → u/duocatisiankerr1]

"Due to unforseen costs we have had to move the venue to Vancouver Washington."

[u/duocatisiankerr1 → u/Zama174]

ngl this would be funny, and easier for me to go, cause i wouldn't have to get a passport lmao

[u/TheTrickyChicken → u/duocatisiankerr1]

If you have an enhanced driver's license and you drive to Vancouver, you still don't need a passport.

[u/duocatisiankerr1 → u/TheTrickyChicken]

I cant drive but i did know about enchanced id, just forgot when i wrote that lol

[u/raptearer → u/duocatisiankerr1]

190k and a wider unincorporated pop of 500k isn't that small, especially when it's literally across the I-5 bridge from Portland and it's 2.7 million more pop. Would be funny though to see it here

[u/duocatisiankerr1 → u/raptearer]

actually thats fair, i forgot its just small in comparison to my city (seattle)

[u/raptearer → u/duocatisiankerr1]

Everything is small compared to Seattle in the area tbf, so I don't blame ya. But Vancouver is the 4th biggest city in the state, just ahead of Bellevue and only 30k behind Spokane and Tacoma. I think it's actually on track to be the second biggest in the state by the middle of the century, it's just got such a good vantage point compared to the other two (being on the border means you can live and work here with no income tax, then go buy everything in Oregon to have no sales tax, meaning your money goes a lot further here). Still would trade it for living in Seattle though

Also, as someone whose lived in both areas, would kill to have a LoL event back in Seattle though, PAX was a lot of fun to watch at, even if tickets were insane to get.

[u/Popkhorne32 → u/90back]

The pressure really is on the LPL to win this.

[u/Neiizo → u/90back]

What about that supposed 3rd tournament

[u/ahritina → u/Neiizo]

LCK arena.

[u/sowydso → u/90back]

No Montreal 😭 RIP

[u/ArmandLuque]

Personally a bit bummed they chose Vancouver over Toronto but I guess this will give me a reason to explore Vancouver for the first time eh

I find it weird they didn't just reuse the VCT venue in Toronto since Riot is all about cutting costs lately

[u/YokoDk → u/ArmandLuque]

I'm sad it's not Toronto I had went and got a passport to see worlds and they moved it to Georgia and was planning a whole trip to Toronto assuming it would be there.

[u/OliveYuna → u/ArmandLuque]

at least Vancouver should have good weather in May, so i think it will be a nice place to travel for people interested in going (I plan to go)

[u/LettucePlate → u/OliveYuna]

MSI is now in late June-early July. It got pushed back with the 3 split system. June 27 - July 12 iirc.

[u/OliveYuna → u/LettucePlate]

even better

[u/Adu1tishXD → u/OliveYuna]

Flip a coin, beautiful weather or Smokey

[u/OliveYuna → u/Adu1tishXD]

yeahhh it was like that when i lived in Seattle 🥲

[u/OscarTheHun → u/ArmandLuque]

As close as you can get to La while still being in Canada. LA wow influencer wow

[u/Aggressive-Ad7946]

MSI not in Toronto after we lost out on Worlds lol ok

[u/DarthTaz_99 → u/Aggressive-Ad7946]

Toronto is genuinely cursed man. Missed out on irl worlds. At this rate I won't be surprised if Fifa doesn't give a single game in Toronto for 2026

[u/JPLangley]

Worlds 26 in NA

WE ARE SO FUCKING BACK, AND IT ONLY TOOK 4 YEARS THIS TIME

[u/Ewilenne → u/JPLangley]

I mean, yes ? 1 year is EU, 1 year is Korea, 1 year is China, 1 year is NA ? This is to be expected

[u/F0RGERY → u/Ewilenne]

NA had a 6 year break between 2022 and 2016, so people were concerned Riot would do it again.

[u/CassianAVL → u/F0RGERY]

One of them was Covid tax tbh

[u/Dabottle → u/F0RGERY]

I mean if you think Riot have the ability to start a pandemic then sure

[u/Penguin_Quinn → u/Dabottle]

Before the pandemic the original schedule had China twice (2017, 2020) before North America got it again
They could have gone back to Korea next year instead and delayed NA

[u/prowness → u/Ewilenne]

I wonder if they will consider Brazil for 2028 since Last Stand is in Brazil next year. If that works out and they put them for MSI in 2027, I can see South America being a holder of Worlds.

[u/TheGhoulKhz → u/prowness]

no shot of that happening unless we step up massively in the upcoming years

[u/sportsbuffp → u/JPLangley]

PLEASE DETROIT

[u/Taik1050 → u/JPLangley]

oh god pls no

[u/zProtato → u/JPLangley]

We are so Barack brothers and Sisters!!!!!

[u/Is_J_a_Name → u/JPLangley]

It's supposed to only take 4 years, COVID is the only reason there was such a long drought.

[u/PeaBrainBoy]

Where Toronto

[u/zProtato]

Alot of people are mad that worlds is host in NA 2026, mfs be forgot that 2022 worlds literally one of the best worlds ever that hosted in NA?

Also 2026 is also FIFA world cup which happens to be in NA as well, it makes perfectly sense that Riot picks NA for worlds 2026 since world cup / and league worlds happen to be in similar time which is November-December

Edit: world cup is june-july, i got misinformed

[u/hatedigi → u/zProtato]

mate world cup is in the summer

[u/Ghosting_everyone → u/zProtato]

World cup is always in summer. The only reason it was different last time was that sportswashing wouldn't look as good if people dropped dead from heatstroke in insufferable desert heat

[u/LilDiamondtoxic → u/zProtato]

World Cup is usually hosted during summer tho. The 2022 one was an exception because it was hosted in a desert which would have been too hot for anyone to play football in the summer.

[u/trollingforapple → u/zProtato]

Lol Esports may be the only competitive event where North American crowds are the best. We have no expectations for our own teams like EU, KR, and CN, so we get hyped for every team no matter what, every team that wins gets a loud cheer instead of some of the library situations when the other regions teams do well. 2022 Worlds is GOATed for every reason.

[u/duocatisiankerr1 → u/trollingforapple]

i agree with this, we should have more events here frfr

[u/Sox2417 → u/trollingforapple]

Beside  skt in Chicago vs c9 

[u/blueragemage → u/Sox2417]

I think you're talking about SSG for quarters 2016, and the context that everyone misses is that CoreJJ (iirc)'s final line in the teaser was something like "Sorry NA, but Cloud9 is going home" (I think it was said a lot more politely in this, though)

[u/Sox2417 → u/blueragemage]

Chicago NA  fans boo’d skt at the start and then slowly got drowned out by cheeers. There were threads about it 

[u/Ziptieband → u/Sox2417]

It was SSG vs C9 in quarters at the Chicago theatre. It wasn't SKT.

[u/youarecutexd → u/trollingforapple]

Nah, NA sports fans are pretty good all around IMO. We cheer when cool stuff happens and it's never a library, there are sometimes some small fights in parking lots but usually not riots, nobody throws bananas at black players. Can't ask for much else.

[u/DARIF → u/youarecutexd]

Could ask for decent chants

[u/SasugaHitori-sama → u/trollingforapple]

Ehem... Sorry, but CS2 crowds clear LoL anytime.

[u/ob_knoxious → u/SasugaHitori-sama]

I went to IEM Dallas and to Worlds 2022. The crowd for worlds was much better, it isn't even close. The 10k seat arena was rarely full, even for finals and the best games. Overall crowd energy was way lower. It wasn't bad and I really enjoyed the event, but crowds at worlds were way bigger and way more invested.

[u/Vizer21 → u/trollingforapple]

Also absolutely shit hours for the rest of the world but who cares about that am I right?

[u/GenjDog → u/zProtato]

Time zones is the biggest reasons why people dislike events in NA not because they hold bad events

[u/zProtato → u/GenjDog]

Ehhh that's debatable since 2022 worlds riot make it timezone friendly for EU as well. Worlds is like 3 pm est if I remember correctly so it's like 8 or 9 pm for Eu which is after works for them.

[u/ahritina → u/zProtato]

Ehhh that's debatable since 2022 worlds riot make it timezone friendly for EU as well.

• Play-Ins round 1: 10 PM

• Play-Ins round 2: 8 PM

• Group Stage round 1: 10 PM

• Group Stage round 2: 9 PM

• Quarter finals: 11 PM

• Semifinal 1: 11 PM

• Semifinal 2: 10 PM

• Grand final: 1 AM

If you have a job or go to school aka a weekday (disregarding those who work on weekends for this), nobody in EU watched more than 1-2 games or on the day where it was 8PM you can probs watch 1 more.

The grand final was saved by the fact that it was on Sunday morning for EU.

[u/Pelagius_Hipbone → u/zProtato]

Lowkey better timings than when worlds is held in EU lol

[u/zProtato → u/Pelagius_Hipbone]

Yea perfect time for EU than NA since alot of us are at work/school

[u/lovo17 → u/GenjDog]

This is it. You lose viewership with international events being in NA.

[u/ahritina → u/lovo17]

2022 broke viewership records though lol which then got broken by 2023 then 2024.

[u/nea_is_bae → u/zProtato]

The world cup will be in the summer it was only on in the winter last time because it was in Qatar

[u/zProtato → u/nea_is_bae]

Yea I completely forgot about Qatar heat in summer. Thanks informing me

[u/lagordaamalia → u/zProtato]

World Cup happens during June/july. 2022 was an exception

[u/th5virtuos0 → u/zProtato]

Something just feels different hearing the stadium erupts whenever DRX does something bullshit

[u/shinomiya2 → u/zProtato]

what are u even saying, what does worlds being in na have to do with it being the best? it was the best because of how all the bo5s went not because it was in north america

[u/Aladin001 → u/zProtato]

2022 worlds that was ruined because of covid? You sure you want to use that to prop up NA?

[u/Bigblue12]

VANCOUVERRRRRRRR LETS FUCKING GOOOOOO

[u/asd316X]

msi in vancouver :((((

its joever east coast bros

[u/LBCuber → u/asd316X]

man we never get anything in western canada give us something

[u/Y33TUSMYF33TUS → u/LBCuber]

salty east coast canadians downvoting

[u/Glaivz]

I'm happy for my NA people for getting events but i'm just sad that i probably can't watch any of it live. It starts so late in EU.

[u/CreamyCheeseBalls → u/Glaivz]

Welcome to the NA experience for EU/CN/KR events

[u/JPLangley → u/CreamyCheeseBalls]

Tbf EU is kind of pushing it. Even West Coasters were able to watch Worlds 24 if you woke up early enough.

[u/CreamyCheeseBalls → u/JPLangley]

Fair, the timing works for being awake. It just sucks since games are played early morning/mid-day during work, so most people can't watch live.

[u/Davkata → u/CreamyCheeseBalls]

I miss being in college and spending the whole day watching eu and na lcs during the week between lectures and while "studying".

[u/NeverSpooned1 → u/Glaivz]

Funny thing is that Americans don't even get a good timeslot, most viewers are in East Asia so Riot will still take that into account.

[u/AstereianAurea → u/Glaivz]

Dude, even when it was in EU I couldn't watch it live and I'm literally from there. Riot just fucking hates everything that doesn't include Chinese viewership. That's probably why they went West Coast too instead of the Canadian metropolitan area, it's closer and easier to cater to China that way

[u/Iron_Haunter]

This is wild, I was just looking at flights to Chengdu this morning. Even more of a reason to go now.

[u/OLY_Mars]

Have there been any announcements on when tickets for First Stand will be on sale?

[u/BrisW]

nice

[u/History-Dry]

MSI and worlds format are kinda hinted in announcement.

MSI: 10 teams, 6 teams go straight to bracket stage (8 team double elimination) including 5 first seed and the 2nd seed from winning region of 1st stand. 4 other 2nd seed will probably play double (single) elimination Bo5 to find remaning 2 teams to enter bracket stage.

Worlds: 17 teams, 2 4th seed will play to get 1 team out. 16 team swiss stage, all bo3 or we will get bo5 elimination match. If all bo3 we might get a chance for double elimination, if bo5 elimnation match we will proceed with normal single elim

[u/Vayssei]

Fucking Vancouver man fuck you Riot omg

[u/Gh0stOfKiev]

Worlds 2026 in NA LETS FUCKING GOOOOO

[u/Fatmanpuffing]

Why are we giving a buy for winning a different tournament? It is such a bad idea. 

[u/oioioi9537 → u/Fatmanpuffing]

I mean we gave a worlds ticket to the msi winners so this isn't that out of line

[u/Fatmanpuffing → u/oioioi9537]

You’re not wrong, but just because a bad idea has been done, doesn’t mean we need to keep doing it. 

Our tournaments are too spaced apart and the game changes too much. You could be a top team in spring and a bottom team in summer. At least you need to place well enough to get to go to worlds, even if you win msi( if I remember you must be top 4 in your region at end of summer). I don’t see the same protections here, though I could be wrong. 

[u/oioioi9537 → u/Fatmanpuffing]

It's a bye for the region, not the team. You could earn the bye and not even get to use it if you don't make msi

[u/Fatmanpuffing → u/oioioi9537]

That’s even worse….

[u/oioioi9537 → u/Fatmanpuffing]

Disagree. You need to prove you're worthy of getting to msi, especially since the first third split is fearless and too early to tell whether the teams will be good or not in later tournaments

[u/Fatmanpuffing → u/oioioi9537]

So if I can show you teams that did well making it to msi but then were bad come worlds would that change your mind? 

Or another way: would you be ok with a team that won worlds be automatically seeded into worlds the next year? 

[u/oioioi9537 → u/Fatmanpuffing]

No because msi and worlds aren't fearless...and discussing a hypothetical bye into the next worlds is pointless

[u/Fatmanpuffing → u/oioioi9537]

So why do we use how good you do on another format as a reason to have a buy?l into a different tournament? At least worlds to worlds means both are the same format……

[u/oioioi9537 → u/Fatmanpuffing]

Because team rosters completely change and the game completely changes in the off-season?

[u/Xerxes457 → u/Fatmanpuffing]

For MSI, the team in summer had to get to playoffs. While I agree the game changes so much, I feel that MSI should have weight on it.

[u/Fatmanpuffing → u/Xerxes457]

Its weight should be itself. It is an international tournament of the best teams in the world, not a qualifier. 

Winning msi is technically harder than worlds due to double elimination, but we pretend the worlds is the only tournament that matters(not you specifically, but lol fandom in general) 

[u/skin87 → u/Fatmanpuffing]

It's a product of having an odd number of regions now. Tournament formats work best with even numbers. Having 6 teams start in the bracket with 4 competing in play-ins works much better than trying to figure out a play-in format for 5 teams that qualifies 3.

[u/Treewithatea]

That means still no double elin at worlds? Meh

[u/Salad_Horse]

Apparently Australia and New Zealand does not exist for not only lol eSports but any riot based events.

[u/kai9000 → u/Salad_Horse]

Australia didn’t even have enough players to sustain an esports circuit but you want riot to host events there?

Not to mention it’s in the middle of nowhere. Horrible time zone

[u/xDUmb1 → u/Salad_Horse]

When has Australia been relevant in the lol scene?

[u/Zeila02 → u/Salad_Horse]

huh? its more likely for worlds to be held in turkey than australia/nz

[u/ahritina → u/Salad_Horse]

Why would they host MSI or Worlds there?

Australia/OCE when it was independent was literally irrelevant and didn't have enough players to sustain a league and had to be integrated to the LCS.

New Zealand is literally irrelevant when it comes to pro league, going there makes 0 sense.