The League Championship Series may finally be coming to Texas for the first time ever after Riot Games announced on Saturday that the LCS 2022 Mid-Season Showdown finals will take place at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.
This announcement follows Riot’s recent decision to cancel an in-person finals experience at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey for the LCS 2021 Championship due to concerns of rising COVID-19 cases across the country.
We are excited to announce that the 2022 Mid-Season Showdown will be hosted at NRG Stadium in Houston, TX on April 23-24, 2022! #LCS
— LCS (@LCSOfficial) August 28, 2021
The $352 million facility is home to the NFL’s Houston Texans and has a seating capacity of more than 72,000. Whether or not fans and media partners will be allowed to attend the event in person remains to be seen and is likely contingent on the development of the COVID-19 pandemic within the U.S.
In a press conference before the LCS 2021 Championship losers’ bracket finals on Aug. 28, Riot Games Head of Esports for North American and Oceania (and interim LCS Commissioner) Chris Greeley provided the following statement:
“It personally took a lot of restraint for me to not hop into all the threads we saw pop up from fans in Texas wondering what happened to our promise to bring the show there in the wake of having to cancel last year’s spring finals,” said Greeley. “Texas, we did not forget about you. I am really excited to announce that Houston’s NRG Stadium will host the 2022 Mid-Season Showdown finals next April.”
In spring of 2020, plans to host the LCS 2021 Spring Finals at the Ford Center in Frisco, Texas were canceled due to the initiation of country-wide quarantine and social-distancing mandates in response to the then emerging COVID-19 pandemic. In an interview with Upcomer in June, Greeley stated that there are plans for the LCS Studio to welcome back live audiences sometime in 2022.
According to Greeley, more details on the event will be available to fans soon. Until then, those interested can set up alerts here for when ticket sales go live.
Published: Aug 28, 2021 05:23 pm