Fans lined up outside Oracle Arena in Oakland, California this afternoon to join the pre-game festivities for the North American LCS Finals weekend. Sponsors of the league, as well as several participating teams, set up various booths for fans to enjoy. They gave away merchandise, including wristbands, shirts, and hoodies, provided games and contests, and offered unique opportunities for pictures and filming.
Romain dressed up for the pre-game.
Cloud9 provided cornhole, over-sized Jenga and Connect Four at their booth. They also put together a bench and backdrop featuring Coach Reapered and organization owner Jack with the phrase “I was benched by Cloud9,” playing off an on-going meme about their roster decisions earlier this summer.
Several prominent League streamers took photos with fans. Scarra, Imaqtpie, Voyboy, and Yassuo posed against a backdrop in one tent. Cosplayers roamed the crowds, with costumes including Kayn, Janna, Katarina, and Tibbers. Riot also provided a Loading Screen backdrop for groups of five to pose in their position of choice.
Team Liquid and FlyQuest offered their own games to play and apparel to give away. Liquid brought an entire trailer to showcase their sponsor Alienware’s merchandise. FlyQuest’s attendants wore decorative pilot hats, while giving away cups and other merch.
100 Thieves had one of the most popular areas, as they set up a claw machine for fans to play in order to win shirts, hoodies, and more. It surprised most people, because their online store is almost always sold out. Clutch Gaming set up extra large beer pong with over-sized red plastic cups and volleyballs.
Omega Squad Teemo made a pre-game appearance.
With Solo manning the station, they named it “Solo Cup.” Golden Guardians also had their own tent.
Jersey Mike’s, Acer Predator, and State Farm offered booths, as major sponsors of the NA LCS. State Farm created a mock green screen broadcast for recording fans’ predictions for today’s third place match-up. A representative created graphics with each individual’s name and predictions, before recording an short video to share later.
Overall, the pre-show area allowed fans to spend plenty of time gathering team, sponsor, and League merch, while taking plenty of pictures and videos. They will probably offer similar set-ups prior to tomorrow’s title match between Team Liquid and Cloud9.
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