This weekend’s LCS Spring Split playoffs kicked off yesterday on both ESPN2 and the ESPN app, in addition to Riot Games’ Twitch and YouTube channels. Though Riot worked with ESPN in the past, this was the first time that League of Legends would be aired on “linear television.”
For most League fans, the partnership between ESPN and Riot meant enjoying the games without worrying about bandwidth or buffering issues. But it also brought ads, and although commercial breaks can turn into nice timeouts from the TV, it may cause the audience to miss out on vital moments if they’re timed horribly.
ESPN aired ads during the analyst desk panel and the drafting stage. This essentially caused viewers to go blind into the matches without hearing all the important details about the previous games and what champions were chosen and why they were picked.
League players who tried to tune into the broadcast via ESPN voiced their concerns online and stated that this wasn’t the right way to show ads.
One League fan explained that if the ads were simply aired before or after the analyst desk, there wouldn’t be any problems. But the main issue seems to be Riot continuing with the scheduled broadcast as ESPN goes for an ad break.
The LCS playoffs continue today with the series between TSM and FlyQuest at 3pm CT. The winner will move on to face Evil Geniuses, who lost to Cloud9 yesterday in a 1-3 loss, to decide who will then face Cloud9 in the finals.
