The Asian Games will feature a League of Legends competition as a medal sport for the first time ever. Now, rules for the casters of the official broadcast were revealed. They differ much from the casts we're all used to, some would even call them insane. Here is everything you need to know about it.
In round about four weeks the Asian Games 2022 in Hangzhou China will be officially opened. And for the first time a League of Legends tournament will be held as an official medal sport. Many countries have already submitted their rosters, with esport giants China and South Korea as obvious favorites.
Of course a massive event like the Asian Games will have an official broadcast, and according to some information that surfaced recently, this broadcast will differ hugely from the one we're all used to. Especially the casters will face some challenges while commenting.
LoL: Asian Games Caster With Special Rules While Broadcasting
A League of Legends tournament at a big international sport event like the Asian Games will be a new experience for everyone involved – players, coaches, viewers and of course for the on-air talent as well. For the latter one, there will be special rules regarding their job as casters and analyst.
According to the popular League of Legends Twitter user "LoL Context-Chan", the casters need to follow a strict ruling during their cast. As stated by his post, the rules were revealed by the Caster Guo "san" Jun-Liang, a former pro-player turned caster, who is currently training for Asian Games broadcast.
Caster San revealed what he has learned during training for casting Asia Games 2023:
— LoL Context-Chan (@LoLContextChan) August 24, 2023
You cannot mention blood
No nicknames for champions
You have to say player's actual name
Each kill = point
You will be called to a conversation if you mistakenly didn't do any of the above. pic.twitter.com/91QokqYnGj
It seems to be the case, that several well known game specific terms are not allowed on the official broadcast. This regards all mentioning of any sort of violence, as indicated by the prohibition of words like "blood" and "kill". According to the post, the casters should use "point" instead.
Another rule, regards the usage of the real player names, instead of their nickname or in-game handle. This of course is aimed towards the goal, to give the tournament a feeling of a "real" sports events with "real" Athletes. Also, the champions should be named by their full name, since the usage of nicknames is also prohibited.
So if Renekton got the first blood of the game, you will surely not hear the sentence," And the croc gets the first blood". It will be interesting to see, if the on-air talent will be able to overcome their trained reflexes and phrases and work accordingly to the special ruling.
They better should, because the post also mentioned, that special conversation will be held if a talent mistakenly didn't follow one of the rules. So it will be interesting to see, how the broadcast might look like. The whole thing seems to aim at a broader audience, that might watch the Asian Games but aren't into esport.
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