Much of the community criticized the LCS scheduling changes, leading esports executives at Riot Games to talk about their decision-making with Travis Gafford and revealing that the league is still “healthy” going into 2023.
The off-season has been a tough time for the LCS. Between Dash getting let go from the broadcast team and backlash from the controversial schedule changes, the hype for the 2023 LCS season has been stifled.
This has been acknowledged by the people behind the scheduling changes at Riot, and they’ve listened to feedback from the fans to push back that start time by two hours. Along with this change came reassurance to the community that the LCS isn’t dying during an interview with Travis Gafford.
In fact, according to John Needham, President of Esports at Riot Games, the LCS is the “No.2 league in terms of revenue” even after dropping FTX as a sponsor.
Riot assures community LCS has “healthy” revenue
There are various reasons why the community sentiment has been that the LCS is dying, which Dexerto asked Bjergsen about directly in 2022. This narrative isn’t a new one.
But changes ahead of the 2023 LCS season didn’t do anything to shake that narrative, something Needham addressed directly in a lengthy discussion with Travis Gafford.
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“We were putting all of our hopes in the blog, answering a lot of the questions and giving our fans insight on how we made that decision. And the reality is the blog just didn’t land. We didn’t do a good job with the blog, and I’m sorry about that. These things are kind of hit or miss sometimes, you know? And we missed.”
LCS fans, we hear you and appreciate the feedback. The #LCS broadcast schedule will shift to start at 2PM PT/5PM ET on Thursdays & Fridays!
— LCS (@LCSOfficial) January 17, 2023
This apology comes alongside some light scheduling changes, pushing the LCS start times back by two hours to make it more accessible for North American viewers.
Later in the interview, Naz Aletaha, the global head of League of Legends esports, stressed that the LCS is alive and well in terms of budget and funding.
“The LCS this year, they’re going to have 10 or more sponsors. So the league is healthy in that regard even though FTX won’t be on board anymore.” This accompanied Needham’s claim that the LCS is second in revenue. He’d elaborate upon this claim and said that the number 2 statistic is after adjusting for their losses after dropping FTX.
Though the road to the LCS 2023 season hasn’t been a smooth one, Riot esports exec’s open discussion with Travis Gafford shed some light on their decision-making in the off-season and their hopes for the league going forward.