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Riot Games unveils big changes for EU LCS

Including scrapping relegation for the spring split.

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Riot Games has unveiled big plans for the European League of Legends Championship Series, and while they're not quite as big as the changes made to the NA league earlier this year, they're still important.

Firstly, there's a format update, as the league will now be a single league, double round robin best of one for the season, starting from spring next year. This was due to fan feedback, as many found it less enjoyable to watch a best of three, and many didn't tune in if they'd just joined halfway through a match.

Also, broadcast days will be moving to Fridays and Saturdays as of January 19. "We took a look at player feedback around the broadcast days and found overall that Thursday was the least preferred day, Saturday was the best and Friday/Sunday were extremely close, with Friday scoring slightly higher. We're still looking into start times - we're aiming to begin later than 5pm CET, but will confirm in the next few months," Riot writes.

In terms of the relegation and promotion changes, these were due to Riot wanting teams to plan rosters and investments in a strategic way, so that's why mid-year promotion and relegation will be removed next year. "With a full season to plan ahead, teams will have more security when making investments in infrastructure, sponsorships, rosters and team strategies. It's also a step towards our long-term plan of partnering with teams to build a more stable league. This also affects the EU Challenger Series, which we will be changing next year to better fit the needs of the ecosystem," they explained.

Riot goes on to explain that there's a temporary financial support system for teams while an "economic base for league revenue" is built. What do you make of all these changes though?

League of Legends
Photo: Riot Games

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