League of Legends Events to Bet On
2023

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How Do The Different League of Legends Events Work?

League of Legends esports events are fairly easy to understand, especially compared to some other games such as CS:GO. Below, we’ll break down the annual League of Legends tournaments and how they work.

The World Championship (Worlds)

The League of Legends World Championship is an annual tournament held at the end of a League of Legends season. It is easily one of the biggest League of Legends events and is made up of 22 of the world’s best teams, all of whom must qualify through the scene’s regional leagues and Mid-Season Invitational.

Mid-Season Invitational

The League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational takes place between the Spring and Summer split of the regular League of Legends season. The best-performing teams from each region compete in-person for a cash prize.

Regular Season – Spring Split

The League of Legends Spring Split covers the first half of the season. The Spring Split is played across different regions, with teams competing for a place at the Mid-Season Invitational, and ultimately, Worlds.

Regular Season – Summer Split

As above, the League of Legends Summer Split is the second half of the season, with regional teams competing for a place at the most prestigious League of Legends tournament: the World Championship.

Fact

League of Legends events: easy-to-understand and exciting to watch!
League of Legends has one of the simplest tournament formats to follow. However, this doesn’t make it any less engaging! Simply put, the best teams in each region battle it out to qualify for the two biggest annual tournaments: the Mid-Season Invitational and the World Championship.

Biggest League of Legends Events in the UK

Although UK-based viewers can watch and bet on global League of Legends tournaments, very few notable UK League of Legends events have ever taken place. Thankfully, however, as the UK’s esports scene grows, this is becoming less true. Below, we’ll break down some of the biggest League of Legends events to have been hosted in the UK.

League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational 2023

The Mid-Season Invitational, one of the biggest League of Legends events (2023), took place in the UK. 13 teams were hosted at the Copper Box arena in London, with T1 and JDG’s upper bracket game becoming the most watched Mid-Season Invitational game since its inception, with 2.3 million viewers tuning into the event. Two Chinese teams competed in the final, and fans of JD Gaming who might have placed a bet on the MSI would have been excited to watch them beat Bilibili Gaming 3-1.

League of Legends World Championship 2015 – Quarter Finals

In 2015, the League of Legends World Championship was held across four different European locations: Paris, London, Brussels and Berlin. Although the finals were held elsewhere, the Quarter Finals were held at the Wembley SSE Arena in London with live coverage from the BBC. The tournament had an average concurrent viewership of more than 4.2 million.

Opinion

A bright future ahead for UK League of Legends tournaments
Although UK League of Legends events have historically been few-and-far-between, 2023 saw the UK host the second biggest annual League of Legends tournament and the biggest Apex Legends tournament, so it’s likely that the future is bright for UK esports.

What Are The Most Popular League of Legends Tournaments? 

There are a number of incredibly popular League of Legends esports events that viewers can bet on. Some of these are bigger than others, but regardless of size, we’ll break down the best League of Legends events to bet on below.

Popular Major Tournaments

Although there are a range of League of Legends tournaments available to bet on each year, there are two standouts that are known by everybody in the esports scene.

The World Championship

As mentioned above, the League of Legends World Championship (Worlds) is the game’s biggest event, taking place at the end of each season, every year. It is also one of the world’s largest esports tournaments. Worlds is hosted by Riot Games, and 22 teams compete to lift the 32kg Summoner’s Cup and win a percentage of the multi-million-dollar prize pool.

Some of the previous winners of the League of Legends World Championship include:

• DRX (2022)
• Edward Gaming (2021)
• DAMWON (2020)

Mid-Season Invitational

The Mid-Season Invitational is an annual League of Legends international tournament, also hosted by Riot Games. It is held in the middle of the League of Legends season each year, and was first held in 2015. The winners from the Spring Split of the regional leagues (as well as the runner ups from the largest leagues) compete for the trophy and the chance to earn their region an extra slot at the World Championship.

Some of the previous winners of the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational include:

• JD Gaming (2023)
• Royal Never Give Up (2022)
• Royal Never Give Up (2021)

Popular Minor Tournaments

A number of League of Legends online tournaments take place across a range of different regions, in order for teams to qualify for the Mid-Season Invitational and Worlds.

League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK)

The LCK is the annual South Korean league. Typically, Korea has four qualifying slots for Worlds. South Korea is one of the strongest League of Legends regions, and some of the biggest teams in South Korea include Gen.G, T1, KT Rolster and Dplus KIA, among others.

League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC)

The LEC is the annual European, Middle Eastern and African league. Usually, three teams can qualify from the LEC for the World Championship. Some of the biggest League of Legends teams in EMEA include MAD Lions, G2 Esports, Fnatic, Team BDS and SK Gaming. The LEC tournament was recently changed to have three splits – Winter, Spring and Summer – instead of two.

League of Legends Championship Series (LCS)

The LCS is the annual North American League of Legends tournament. Much like EMEA, North America tends to have three teams at the World Championship. Some of the best teams in the LCS include NRG, Team Liquid, Cloud9, Dignitas and Evil Geniuses.

League of Legends Pro League (LPL)

The LPL is the annual Chinese League of Legends league. China is one of the strongest LoL regions and so has four spots at Worlds. JD Gaming, LNG, Edward Gaming and OMG are some of the best teams in the LPL.

League of Legends Pacific Championship Series (PCS)

The PCS is made up of teams from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Southeast Asia and Oceania. Only two teams can qualify from the PCS for Worlds. Some of the strongest teams in this region include Deep Cross Gaming, PSG Talon, Flying Oyster and Beyond Gaming.

League of Legends Vietnam Championship Series (VCS)

The VCS is the annual Vietnamese League of Legends tournament. Much like the Pacific Championship Series, the VCS enables two teams from Vietnam to qualify for the World Championship. Some of the best teams in Vietnam include GAM Esports, Team Secret and Saigon Buffalo, among others.

Campeonata Brasilerio de League of Legends (CBLOL)

The Brazilian Championship of League of Legends refers to the Brazilian LoL league. Only one team qualifies for Worlds from the CBLOL each year. Of the teams vying for qualification, LOUD, Los Grandes, FURIA Esports and paiN Gaming are some of the best known.

League of Legends Japan League (LJL)

The LJL is the annual Japanese League of Legends event, with one team qualifying for the World Championship from this region. The LJL includes teams such as Sengoku Gaming, SoftBank Hawks Gaming, V3 Esports and Detonation FocusMe.

Liga Latinoamérica (LLA)

The LLA refers to the Latin American region, in which teams such as Movistar R7, EStral, Infinity and Six Karma compete for a spot at Worlds. From this region, only one team can qualify for League of Legends’ biggest event.

Other League of Legends Tournaments

It should also be noted that, because of the game’s popularity, there are a huge range of smaller League of Legends online tournaments and in-person events available to watch and bet on. Grassroots League of Legends events pop up all over the world, usually with amateur teams competing for relatively small prize pools.

Fact

League of Legends is the most popular esport to watch globally!
According to a YouGov survey, League of Legends is the most followed esport globally! It ranks #3 in the Americas, #1 in Asia Pacific, #1 in Europe and #5 in the Middle East and Africa. This is undoubtedly helped by the regional League of Legends esports events held every year.

League of Legends Event Formats: How Do They Work?

Like any good esport, the different League of Legends tournaments – and the brackets within those tournaments – don’t all follow the same format. Below, we’ll break down some of the different formats seen at various League of Legends esports events.

Single Elimination

Single elimination tournaments are fairly straightforward to understand. The teams within a single elimination bracket are drawn against another team in the bracket, although this pairing will often depend on the team’s ranking. Teams will face off against one another, with the winner advancing to the next round of the League of Legends tournament, and the losing team being eliminated from the event.

For example, the World Championship often utilises a single elimination format during the Knockout Stages of the Main Event. The top teams from each group face the second team from a different group. The winner of this match up advances onto the next round of the Knockout Stages, while the loser’s tournament run is over.

Double Elimination

A double elimination format is not dissimilar to the single elimination format, except that the losing team will not instantly be eliminated, and will instead drop down into a lower bracket. It is still possible to progress from the loser’s bracket to the final, although losing a game in this bracket will lead to elimination.

In terms of League of Legends events (2023), the Mid-Season Invitational utilised a double elimination bracket at both the Play-In and Playoffs stages. In fact, Bilibili Gaming were knocked out of the Upper Bracket Semifinals by JD Gaming, but ended up facing them in the Grand Final after defeating G2 Esports, Gen.G Esports and T1 in the loser’s bracket.

Round Robin

Simply put, a round robin format involves every team at a League of Legends tournament playing against every other team in a league-style format. Teams earn points based on the result of the match. A “single round robin” involves playing each team once, while a “double round robin” involves playing each team twice.

For example, in the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC), each split involves a single round robin format. Every team faces every other team once, with the winner of the Spring Split heading to the Mid-Season Invitational, and the winner of the Summer Split heading to Worlds.

At the World Championship, the Group Stages utilise a double round robin format.

Swiss Format

A Swiss format in League of Legends involves the implementation of “equally balanced” matches, with teams paired against similarly ranked teams, depending on their score within that tournament. The winner is usually the team with the highest overall points across each round.

Although rare, the Swiss format does occasionally appear in League of Legends tournaments. In fact, the 2023 League of Legends World Championship will utilise a Swiss-style format in Stage 2 of the event. 16 teams will qualify for Stage 2 and each play five rounds. Teams with three wins will advance to Stage 3, the Knockout Round, while teams with three losses will be eliminated.

GSL Format

The GSL format is not dissimilar to the double elimination format. Teams are put into a group, with winners progressing to the winner’s bracket and losers falling into the loser’s bracket. The winner of the winner’s match will advance, while the loser in the loser’s match will be eliminated. In the GSL format, the winner of the loser’s bracket and the loser of the winner’s bracket will then face each other to determine who will move forward in the tournament.

The GSL format is seen rarely, often in smaller-scale tournaments, although there were rumours that the LEC would switch to a GSL-format when it implemented three splits instead of two.

Did you know?

Different League of Legends tournaments utilise different formats
There are a range of different formats used at various League of Legends esports events. The round robin format is probably used the most frequently, especially because of the league-style tournaments leading up to the Mid-Season Invitational and Worlds.

League of Legends Esports Events: Are They Easy to Follow? 

Compared to other esports, League of Legends tournaments are incredibly easy to understand. They follow the same format each year, with regional leagues qualifying teams for the Mid-Season Invitational and the World Championship. This makes them easy to follow and straightforward to bet on. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Kurt Aquilina