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The spring split began on January 25 and was scheduled to conclude with the spring finals on April 19; however, due to the spread of COVID-19 in the United States, the season was temporarily suspended on March 13.[8] Four days later, it was announced that the LCS would resume on March 20, with all matches being played online.
The summer split began on June 12 and concluded with the summer finals on September 6.[5][6]
The LCS changed its playoff format to a double elimination bracket,[4][6][7] similar to that which was adopted by the LEC in 2019.[9] The number of teams participating in the spring playoffs was unchanged, but the number of teams in the summer playoffs was increased to eight. Both splits' playoffs feature a winners' bracket and a losers' bracket, with the bottom two teams beginning in the losers' and the rest beginning in the winners'.[5][7]
Schedule
The LCS schedule was revised for the 2020 season. Four LCS games are broadcast each Saturday and Sunday instead of five, and two games are aired during "Monday Night League", which features the two most popular matchups of the week.[5][6][7] LCS commissioner Chris Greeley explained that this change was made to give less popular teams and players more exposure and opportunities to develop their brand, as most viewers, he argued, only tune in to watch their favorite teams.[7]
Following community feedback and "careful consideration", LCS officials announced that Monday Night League would be changed to Friday Night League for the summer split.[10]
International qualifications
Championship points and the regional finals were removed from the World Championship qualification process.[5][6] The results of the spring split only determined the LCS' representative for the Mid-Season Invitational, and did not have any part in determining a team's future qualification for the World Championship. The summer champions, runners-up and third place team qualified for the World Championship as the LCS' first, second and third seeds respectively.[7]
Broadcasting
The English broadcast was available on the LoL Esports website, as well as on Twitch[11] and YouTube.[12] On January 20, Riot Games announced their official partnership with Chinese streaming service Huya, giving them exclusive rights to the Chinese broadcast.[12][13][14] On April 8, it was announced that the spring playoffs would be aired on ESPN2 and the ESPN App, to fill space by programming being cancelled by the network.[15]