While the coronavirus pandemic is keeping traditional sports off the air, it appears esports will be taking their place.
The LCS spring playoffs will air on ESPN2 and the ESPN App. TSM and 100 Thieves will jump-start the partnership with their League of Legends match on the ESPN App today at 3pm CT, as well as Riot’s Twitch and YouTube channels.
Here’s the schedule for the remaining LCS matches being aired on ESPN2.
- Evil Geniuses vs. Cloud9: April 11 at 3pm CT
- FlyQuest vs. winner of 100 Thieves/TSM: April 12 at 3pm CT
- Third-place matchup: April 18 at 3pm CT
- LCS spring split championship: April 19 at time TBD
While Riot previously teamed up with ESPN to show the 2019 LCS and World Championship on the ESPN App and ESPN+, this will be the first time League will be aired on ESPN “linear television.”
The 17-1 C9 team destroyed the competition with their new squad, including star AD carry Zven. Though C9 are certainly the favorites, the sports world has seen great teams fall before when everything was on the line. Second-place Evil Geniuses hope to help C9 get kicked out of the playoffs early this Saturday.
Riot’s partnership with ESPN comes at a unique time with the NBA season suspended and the MLB season postponed due to COVID-19. Though professional sports leagues are sidelined at the moment, esports leagues are still being played in online formats.
