LCS Commissioner Jackie Felling confirms live audience for spring finals

The League of Legends Championship Series’ new commissioner, Jackie “Jack” Felling confirmed in a Reddit thread today that plans to hold LCS 2022 Mid-Season Showdown finals in Houston, Texas’s NRG Stadium from Apr. 23 to Apr. 24 with a live audience remain unchanged, despite concerns around the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. According to her post, fans can expect more details on booking tickets sooner rather than later.

“This event is happening and we’re excited to announce tickets and other details in the coming weeks,” Felling said. “As you can imagine, COVID/pandemic makes event-planning much more complicated and we are pushing to get out details ASAP. We’re pumped to finally be in Texas and appreciate everyone understanding as we work through these last little details to get out tickets soon.”

In a press conference on Aug. 28, 2021, former LCS commissioner Chris Greeley announced that the 2022 Mid-Season Showdown finals would head to NRG Stadium and allow fans at the venue. The last time an official LCS roadshow welcomed a live audience was in 2019 at the LCS Summer finals in Detroit, Michigan’s Little Caesar’s Arena on Aug. 25.

The LCS 2021 Championship finals were originally set to take place in Newark, New Jersey’s Prudential Center between Aug. 28 and Aug. 29. Not long before the date of the event, it was canceled and relocated to take place at the LCS Arena in Los Angeles, California due to concerns around rising COVID-19 cases in the United States. 

While the ongoing threat of the global pandemic continues to be very real, this could be a sign that the LCS is ready to take steps toward establishing a new normal. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the LCS has taken extra precautions when it comes to allowing fans back at events and even weekly match days. The North American league barred fans and onsite press from attending events on Mar. 6, 2020, and nearly two full years later the seats of the LCS Arena have remained empty. Today, LCS players and limited members of third-party media have been allowed back in the LCS studio as Riot continues to monitor the pandemic.