Has anything captured the world’s imagination in recent years quite like eSports? The gaming/sporting hybrid has well and truly taken over the world, and events such as the FIFA eWorld Cup, Dota 2 International, Rocket League Championship Series, Overwatch World Cup, and Call of Duty World League Championship are some of the most watched events on the planet today.
But while all those tournaments deserve a mention, there is one eSports competition that stands head and shoulders above the rest as the undisputed number one. That, of course, is the League of Legends World Championship. The tournament is the most lucrative eSports competition in the world at present.
The 2022 installment of the tournament offered a total prize pot of just under $17m to its finalists, with just shy of $500k being awarded to the outright winners. And it isn’t just the players themselves that can profit off of eSports these days. As you dive into bitcoin gambling, you can wager on your chosen eSports LPL Spring teams on Bodog, which presents JD Gaming are the undisputed favorite at -410 to win the upcoming championship.
An Overview of eSports’ Most Popular Tournament
When it comes to eSports, one of the biggest events of the year is the League of Legends World Championship. It’s one of the most prestigious tournaments of the year and is watched by millions of fans every year. The tournament has been running since 2011 and has seen some of the best players in the world compete for the title of world champion.
League of Legends is an online multiplayer battle arena game, where two teams with five players each battle it out in the Field of Justice. Each team has its own members, each with different positions and abilities. Players have to cooperate with each other while trying to defeat the opposing team. The goal is to push your team to victory through tactical maneuvers and teamwork.
The tournament is held annually in locations around the world, with the 2020 event taking place in Shanghai, China. Teams from all regions of the world compete in the tournament, with the winning team taking home the Summoner’s Cup and a hefty prize of over $550k. The following year, the team that won was DAMWON Gaming from Korea, who beat out Suning from China in the finals to take home the title and prize.
The Early Years
The tournament itself began in 2011 at the Dreamhack Winter 2011 tournament in Jönköping, Sweden. That year, eight of the planet’s finest teams battled it out for a prize pool of $100k, and over 1.6m fans tuned in and enjoyed the action. Fnatic, who is based out of London, won the tournament after they defeated against All authority 2-1 in the final, with Polish star Maciej “Shushei” Ratuszniak being named the tournament’s most valuable player.
Fnatic’s defense of the crown couldn’t have gone any worse, however. They didn’t even qualify for the finals in 2012, with Taipei Assassins from Taiwan taking full advantage to seal the trophy and a cool $1m winner’s prize.
The following year saw one of eSports’ first-ever dynasties come to the fore. Between 2013 and 2017, South Korean team SK Telecom T1 would reach the world championship final in four of the five competitions that took place, winning three of them. They swept all before them in Los Angeles in 2013, before reaching and winning back-to-back finals in 2015 and 2016.
They were aiming to make it three consecutive victories in 2017 however, they were humbled by fellow South Korean outfit Samsung Galaxy. The Galaxy won 3-0 in the final, stopping the dynasty in its tracks, but not before they had bagged themselves $4.6m in prize money.
Recent Editions of the Tournament
Since then, the game has grown exponentially in size, with the League of Legends World Championship held in various cities across the world. When it comes to eSports, few tournaments are as big or as prestigious as the League Legends World Championship. It has seen some of the world’s best teams compete for the title of world champion and a huge prize pool.
From the inaugural tournament at Dreamhack 2011 to last year’s finals in North America, there’s no shortage of excitement when the team gives everything they have to become one of the best teams in the world.
2022’s installment of the tournament saw SK Telecom T1 – or simply T1 as they are now known – return to the finals for the first time since that humbling defeat back in 2017. Unfortunately, however, their latest venture to the finals would also end in heartbreak. They were beaten 3-2 by fellow South Koreans DRX in San Francisco.
The finals series was a back-and-forth affair, with both teams trading wins and setting up a fifth-game decider, which was eventually won by DRX, who secured the Summoner’s Cup for the first time in their history.
