RLCS 2021-22 schedule: How to watch, season start times and more

The RLCS 2021-22 schedule kicks off this Friday, Oct. 8, with the first qualifiers running through Sunday, Oct. 10. The first main events follow one week later. With four new regions, weekly competition is happening around the globe throughout the next several months. Here’s the schedule, who’s playing and how to watch all the action.

The season opening

The first official RLCS main events of the season happen on Friday, Oct. 15, and you can tune in on Twitch and YouTube. Oceania begins the season at 2 a.m. ET. Asia South follows at 5 a.m. ET. Then, the Middle East and North Africa region begins at 11 a.m. ET and finally, North America kicks off at 1 p.m. ET.

The other regions will start a week later, on Friday, Oct. 22. The Asia North times are to be determined (pending player feedback), while Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa start at 11 a.m. ET and South America kicks off at 3 p.m. ET.

The full RLCS 2021-22 schedule

The full RLCS schedule for the 2021-22 season has been revealed ahead of time. This schedule is essential for keeping track of when everything is going down. These dates are all for main events, but the qualifiers tend to be held one week prior, though not on the official broadcast. However, there is also a Google Calendar that fans can import, which includes most Rocket League esports events. Here’s the full upcoming schedule:

Fall Split

• NA, MENA, OCE, APAC S Regional #1: October 15 – 17
• EU, SAM, APAC N, SSA Regional #1: October 22 – 24
• NA, MENA, OCE, APAC S Regional #2: October 29 – 31
• EU, SAM, APAC N, SSA Regional #2: November 5 – 7
• NA, MENA, OCE, APAC S Regional #3: November 12 – 14
• EU, SAM, APAC N, SSA Regional #3: November 19 – 21
• Player-only offline Major in Stockholm, Sweden: December 8 – 12
• Transfer Window: December 13, 2021 – January 2, 2022

Winter Split

• NA, MENA, OCE, APAC S Regional #1: January 14 – 16
• EU, SAM, APAC N, SSA Regional #1: January 21 – 23
• NA, MENA, OCE, APAC S Regional #2: January 28 – 30
• EU, SAM, APAC N, SSA Regional #2: February 4 – 6
• NA, MENA, OCE, APAC S Regional #3: February 18 – 20
• EU, SAM, APAC N, SSA Regional #3: February 25 – 27
• Offline Major: March 24 – 27
• Transfer Window: March 28 – April 17

Spring Split

• NA, MENA, OCE, APAC S Regional #1: April 29 – May 1
• EU, SAM, APAC N, SSA Regional #1: May 6 – 8
• NA, MENA, OCE, APAC S Regional #2: May 13 – 15
• EU, SAM, APAC N, SSA Regional #2: May 20 – 22
• NA, MENA, OCE, APAC S Regional #3: May 27 – 29
• EU, SAM, APAC N, SSA Regional #3: June 3 – 5
• Offline Major: June 30 – July 3

RLCS World Championship (planned to be held in North America)

• Wildcard: July 22 – 24
• Main Event: July 26 – 31

The world championship has a new format and will last over a week this time around.

Watching the qualifiers

Every regional event has its own qualifiers, though some teams will naturally qualify through their placement via the previous event. They generally happen one week before the main events, so the first qualifiers happen on Friday, Oct. 8.

These qualifiers are not broadcast on official channels, but Psyonix has encouraged teams and organizations to broadcast their own runs. Many of these organizations hire established talent, including content creators, to host and cast the qualifiers. Fans of specific teams will probably want to watch the qualifiers on their favorite org’s channels.

Who’s playing?

Every single regional event will feature 16 teams. Qualifiers will determine who gets to play in the main events, but the top 16 of the previous season in the existing regions have already been invited to the qualifiers. The top eight will immediately qualify for the main event. The other eight will have to battle through the closed qualifiers, against the open qualifier teams, for a spot.

The new regions (MENA, APAC S, APAC N and SSA) will all simply have closed qualifiers to determine the top 16. This time out, there are a lot of regions, teams and brackets to keep track of. While Psyonix is still working on their new website, Liquipedia does a phenomenal job at keeping everything up to date and easy to follow.