Teams participating at the 2020 League of Legends World Championship have been covering the manhole covers of Shanghai with their logos.Â
With the 2020 World Championship comes a lot of hype and media coverage, as it’s the biggest esports event of the year. Teams and players alike are in the spotlight, but having their logos on manhole covers in Shanghai was probably not what they expected.Â
China is by far the biggest nation in League of Legends, with millions of fans that tune in to watch every game of Worlds. The Chinese fanbase is known to be very dedicated and the streets of Shanghai are clear evidence of that.
For #Worlds2020, splendid plays and riveting storylines all leave the confines of the Rift and take to the City itself.#Worlds2020 teams’ logos decorate the manholes of Nanjing Road Pedestrian Walkway, a cultural symbol of Shanghai.
The Group Stage will start on Oct 3rd! pic.twitter.com/0IZgzEU3aJ
— LPL (@lplenglish) October 1, 2020
This year’s Worlds in Shanghai is hard to overlook for locals, as teams’ logos are decorating manhole covers in the city of Shanghai. The manhole covers have been spotted in Nanjing Road Pedestrian Walkway, which is a cultural symbol of Shanghai and a spot that thousands of people walk by every day.Â
Even though it is only manhole covers, fans of the game are almost treating it as the Hollywood Walk of Fame where various famous people are carved into tiles in the street. The Shanghai manhole covers help create awareness around the World Championship and might lead to even more people to tune in and watch.  Â
The recognition of League of Legends in Shanghai was also clear when LGD Gaming made the regional evening news after losing to PSG Talon on the first day of the play-in stage. The outcome of the game was a huge surprise to everyone, as no one expected PSG Talon to stand a chance while playing with multiple substitute players.Â
The loss sent LGD and PSG Talon directly into the news in Shanghai, where the news broadcaster specifically talked about how PSG Talon won through getting the Baron as though it was just some regular sports news, a real curiosity for LoL fans abroad.Â
The legendary Chinese squad Royal Never Give Up, led by Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao, got a lot of public recognition after winning the 2018 Mid-Season Invitational. The tournament was one of the first big wins for Chinese League of Legends teams and the squad ended up with its livery on several trains from the Beijing Metro Line 1.Â
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