Riot announced the 2020 LCS season will begin on Jan. 25, along with significant changes to the weekly and playoff formats for both the LCS and Academy, which will begin Jan. 25.
LCS games will expand to be played Saturday-Monday. There will be four games every Saturday and Sunday, with the new “Monday Night League” airing at 8:30 p.m. ET and featuring two of the most anticipated matchups of the week.
Academy games will be played Friday-Monday, with Riot adding a new show called “Academy Rush” that will air at 8 p.m. ET on Fridays and feature four games being played simultaneously and a fifth game shown in full. Academy Rush will feature shoutcasters and analysts jumping between the various games being shown simultaneously, highlighting the biggest plays and moments.
“We hope debuting this new broadcast format will allow LCS fans to easily keep up with all the Academy action on a single channel,” Riot said in its press release.
“For Academy players, gaining stage experience is a key step towards a starting spot on an LCS roster. In Summer 2019, organizations really benefited from giving their Academy teams valuable stage time after LCS matches on Sundays – with this in mind we decided to take it one step further and expand stage time for the Academy teams by featuring one Academy game after the LCS matches on the weekend.
“On top of that, 3 Academy games will be played on-stage every Monday. Through these changes, every Academy team will have an opportunity to play on stage every week.”
Expanded playoffs & new path to Worlds
The playoff formats for both leagues are also undergoing changes.
The LCS Spring and Summer splits will continue to be best-of-one matches with each split schedule running for nine weeks.
The playoffs will take place over four weeks, with the specific format changing between the Spring and Summer. The top six teams from the Spring Split will advance to a best-of-five bracket played on Saturdays and Sundays, while the top eight teams in the Summer Split will advance to the best-of-five playoffs bracket. The Summer Playoff match schedule will expand to account for the additional teams.
Three teams will qualify for Worlds 2020 through the new Summer Playoffs rather than having to go through regional qualifiers or championship points.
“Every format has trade-offs but the new Playoff formats should more consistently lead to the best teams ending up at the top while still leaving open the possibility for a miracle run,” Riot said. “Critically for all of us fans, we’ll get to see the top teams play more marquee matches than ever before.”
The Academy regular season will continue to mirror that of the LCS, with two nine-week splits. The Spring Split Playoffs will feature six teams in a best-of-five bracket, with the Summer Playoffs format to be announced before the start of the split.
KEY DATES
LCS
- Spring Split Start Date: Saturday, January 25
- Spring Split Regular Season: January 25 – March 22
- Spring Playoffs: March 28 – April 19
- Round 1 Winners: March 28-29
- Round 1 Losers: April 4-5
- Round 2: April 11-12
- Finals: April 18-19
- Summer Split Start Date: Saturday, June 20
- Summer Split Regular Season: June 20 – August 16
- Summer Playoffs: August 20 – September 13
- Round 1: August 20-23
- Round 2: August 27-30
- Round 3: September 5-6
- Finals: September 12-13
ACADEMY
- Spring Split Start Date: Friday, January 24
- Spring Split Regular Season: January 24 – March 22
- Spring Playoffs: March 26 – April 10
- Quarterfinals: March 26-27
- Semifinals: April 2-3
- Finals: April 9-10
Start Times
During the regular season, games begin at:
- Fridays at 5:00 PM PT – Academy Rush
- Saturdays at 2PM PT – LCS and Academy
- Pre-show coverage at 1:30 PM PT
- Sundays at noon PM PT – LCS and Academy
- Pre-show coverage at 11:30 AM PT
- Mondays at 5:30 PM PT – Monday Night League and Academy
- Academy games at 2:00 PM PT
- LCS pre-game coverage at 5:00 PM PT
–Field Level Media (@FieldLevelMedia)
