When the League of Legends Championship Series Summer Split kicks off on June 13, you'll notice a change in the look of the Summoner's Rift map: Riot Games is introducing sponsored arena banners, and the battlefield will will be branded with the branding of the various participating leagues.
On-field advertising is a mainstay of traditional broadcast sports, so it is not surprising that Riot Games is experimenting with it. "Our desire is to create an environment that exudes the energy found in traditional sports," Riot Games wrote in a statement.
Interestingly, the sponsor banner will only be open to the public. To ensure that "the new visual model does not affect [players'] ability to practice or compete," players will not actually see the sponsor banner during competition, only the standard model.
This is fortunate. You really don't want to be distracted by the Mastercard logo at a crucial moment in an important match:
Like the Spring Split, Riot Games will hold the Summer Split entirely online. More details here.
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