One weekend. Two events. Three countries, three stadiums.
While the LCS Summer Finals were going on in both New York and Stockholm, the biggest Counter-Strike event of the year, ESL One, was also being held in Cologne.
Millions watched the events from home, but what makes for a more impressive visual are the thousands who attended in-person at all three venues, from fans to more serious players to cosplayers.
The view from the stage at Lanxess Arena, Cologne during ESL One, the world’s biggest Counter-Strike tournament (photo by Helena Kristiansson).
The Hovet Arena in Stockholm, which seats 9000 people, was sold out for the EU LCS Playoff Finals.
11,000 people crammed into Madison Square Garden to see the NA LCS Playoff Finals.
The crowd goes nuts on day 2 of the EU LCS Playoff Finals
Wrestlemania? Nope, this is how teams made their entrance at the business end of ELS One
There’s nothing new about big crowds at eSports events, they’ve been selling out stadiums for years now, but there’s something about seeing three go down on the same weekend (across three countries) and all be huge that really rams home to the outsider that, yup, buying tickets to watch live video games is a big deal.
Showdown at the EU LCS Playoff Finals
And nothing showed that more than the crowd shots from the NA LCS event in NYC, which looked like one hell of a good time.
Madison Square Garden is doused with confetti following CLG’s 3-0 win.
We’ll have some more in-depth coverage of the LCS stuff tomorrow (Yannick was at Madison Square Garden), for those interested.
(LCS photos courtesy of Riot)