League of Legends: gaming fans flock to Seoul for Super Bowl of esports, as Faker targets ‘rare’ home win
- South Korean powerhouse T1 will take on China’s Weibo Gaming in front of 16,000 sell-out crowd
- Tickets for the final at the Sky Dome baseball stadium sold out in 10 minutes, while dozens of cinemas will also screen the action
Thousands of fans from around the world have descended on South Korea’s capital Seoul for the League of Legends world championship final on Sunday, widely considered the Super Bowl of esports.
First held in 2011, the League of Legends (LoL) world championship has rapidly grown to become one of the crown jewels of esports, which are globally forecast to attract audiences of nearly 1.4 billion by 2025.
South Korean powerhouse T1, who lost in last year’s world final, will take on China’s Weibo Gaming at the Gocheok Sky Dome, a 16,000-capacity baseball stadium.
“Every time the LoL world championship was held in South Korea, we were not able to advance, but this year, we’ve secured the opportunity to play … in front of our Korean fans,” T1’s Faker, a superstar often hailed as the Michael Jordan of esports, said at a press conference this week.
“I hope to end this rare … opportunity with a positive result.”
Faker, whose real name is Lee Sang-hyeok, is looking to win a record fourth world title with T1. He won gold with South Korea at the Asian Games this year.
