Recently, the Korea e-Sports Association – KeSPA officially announced the organization format of the finals of the professional League of Legends tournament in Korea – LCK Spring 2020. Based on issues related to professionalism and the complex developments of the Covid-19 pandemic, the final match of the spring tournament will be held at LoL Park in an offline format, under strict compliance with health protection measures and social distancing.
Overall, organizing online matches can only be applied to the group stage matches. In reality, technical incidents are unavoidable, as seen in many matches during the latter half of the group stage of LCK which were interrupted due to connection issues.
Clearly, this cannot be repeated in a match that determines the entire season like the finals, so returning to LoL Park is necessary.
Additionally, in order to continue adhering to social distancing requirements to prevent the Covid-19 pandemic, this final will also take place without an audience, similar to the group stage matches that occurred at the arena in the early stages of the season.
Besides the LCK, other tournaments like LCS and LEC are also considering organizing offline matches for the finals with no audience. Meanwhile, it is highly likely that the VCS Spring 2020 finals between GAM Esports and Team Flash will be held online, as GG Stadium has not yet resumed operations.