By Noah Smith
Football has the NFL. Golf has the PGA Tour. Stock car racing has NASCAR. But when it comes to the most popular esport series in the world, no one has been quite sure what to call the collection of international competitive series for League of Legends.
After 10 years of ambiguity, Riot Games has announced that the global professional competitive series for their game, encompassing 12 region-based leagues, will be called League of Legends Esports. Though each league has its own name, there has never been a clear handle with which to refer to the entirety of the competitive pro scene, until now.
Along with the christening, Riot announced three new online shows: a weekly highlights show on Tuesdays, a show featuring the top plays of the week on Wednesday, and a debate-type show featuring casters from around the world every other Thursday. The shows will appear on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and the league's homepage, lolesports.com. They will not appear on Twitch.
A Riot spokesperson said the company is attempting to address a couple issues with the rebranding, beyond making it easier to discuss the competitive scene as a whole. For players, they are trying to re-ignite passion and focus on regional leagues and events and not just the prestigious international tournaments. For fans, they are attempting to build a more seamless experience across regional leagues, since they believe fans are increasingly watching foreign league play.
The Washington Post