League of Legends World Championship semifinals coming to Atlanta

Local esports gamers, and especially League of Legends (LoL) fans, have good news. Riot Games announced Thursday that the semifinals of the 2022 League of Legends World Championship will be moved to Atlanta’s State Farm Arena.

The matches were originally scheduled to take place in Toronto as part of a multi-city tour, but difficulties obtaining a multi-entry visa to the U.S. and Canada due to the COVID-19 pandemic caused Riot officials to relocate the event to Atlanta, according to a press release.

“We are committed to upholding our tradition of a multi-city Worlds tour despite the challenges presented by the pandemic, and look forward to hosting the 2022 semifinals at the state-of-the-art State Farm Arena in Atlanta,” Naz Aletaha, global head of LoL Esports at Riot Games, said.

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State Farm Arena and the surrounding hospitality district should prove a ready backdrop for the global esports event. While many outside the gaming community have never heard of the game, its global fanbase is objectively huge. League of Legends is the world’s most popular esports league, with the 2021 final drawing more than 73.8 million peak concurrent viewers, according to Riot reports.

In the streaming space, Worlds actually outperform the Super Bowl by about 5x: the LoL final boasted an Average Minute Audience (AMA) score of 30M, while the Super Bowl’s AMA clocked in at just over 6M.

“We are honored that Atlanta now has this incredible opportunity to host the world’s biggest esports event”, said Todd Harris, Atlanta Esports Alliance Chair. “We look forward to working closely with Riot Games, our public and private partners, and our local community to create a remarkable experience for all involved.”

The updated schedule for Worlds 2022 is as follows:

Play-Ins: Mexico City, Mexico

Groups and Quarterfinals: New York, New York

Semifinals: Atlanta, Georgia

Finals: San Francisco, California

While the start date for the tournament has yet to be announced, it’s expected to take place in October and November, as in previous years.