ESPN will broadcast and stream 'League of Legends' spring playoffs
You can tune in today starting at 4PM Eastern.
ESPN’s 12-hour esports marathon was just the start of its return to live competitive gaming. The broadcaster and Riot Games have reached a deal that will stream the League of Legends Championship Series Spring Split Playoffs live on ESPN2 or the ESPN app, starting with a match between 100 Thieves and TSM today (April 8th) available online at 4PM Eastern. You’ll also have on-demand access to events immediately after they’ve finished.
You can expect follow-up matches at the same time on April 11th, April 12th and April 18th. The final match for the North American championship is due on April 19th, although there isn’t a set time for it at this stage.
The network has a growing presence in esports coverage, and isn’t new to League of Legends coverage. Until now, though, you had to subscribe to ESPN+ if you wanted to watch pro LoL games live. This theoretically brings the series to a wider audience. Not that ESPN is necessarily doing this purely to promote esports. With virtually all conventional sports shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, esports is one of the few live programming options left.
