The second season of the League of Legends European Championship debuted this Friday, January 24th. The LEC came out swinging in 2019, with its rebranding turning it into one of the most successful esports leagues. Head of Esports at Riot Games Europe Alberto Guerrero talked to us about what the team has learned from the previous year.

We're starting the second year of the LEC. The first year was considered to be a big success. What have you learned from the first year that you're bringing into the second year?

Good question. We've learned a lot, because a lot of the things were new. We had a new format, we had new teams, and we had a new way to interact with the teams in this long term partnership we started. The best thing we discovered, that worked very well, is how well we were working with the teams in our business development meetings, in our internal governance meetings where we decided things all together, where to go with decisions. I think that improves the way teams and organizations were working a lot, compared with the past. It's one of the things we are very proud of: how the teams are collaborating, pushing with us, all together as a team for the LEC. That's one of the best things that happened last year. Of course we're going to keep that, and we're going to keep working on other things.

And how does that extend into 2020?

In general, a lot of 2020 is about consolidation. We changed the brand, we changed the way we produced the broadcast. You will see today, even with a studio more or less the same, we're doing incredible things with the graphics. Very different. So we're learning better how to build different approaches, from a creative point of view in the studio. It's about consolidation and efficiency, and all those tools. We didn't play with that last year, so it's an opportunity to maximize a lot of the effort we put in. In every aspect of the production in general.

What will you be leaving behind, going into this year?

Not too many. It was so successful. [Laughs] You know, it's not to my credit; I arrived in March, so there was a lot of work behind. From a competitive point of view, everything was working well. From a viewership point of view we were growing, reaching the best KPI's we've had in history. We were, for a second year in a row, finalists of Worlds. Winning MSI... it's very hard to find things we don't want to repeat.

Maybe organizationally?

Nothing to regret. I think everything worked pretty well.

We saw the LEC bring in many new sponsors this year. How are they going to help the LEC grow even further, in 2020?

I think we still have space to grow with a few more sponsors, as we did with Kit Kat for pauses during the game. But we also expect to deliver better content integrated with our sponsors. A good example is Beko for the kitchen conversations and interviews. With Kia, I think we're doing a very good job integrating the brand and integrating the brand for our fans. I think we have a lot of space to grow in that direction.

Do you have any particular area of sponsorships in mind where you would look, or are you welcoming of any sponsor?

I mean, of course the team has a few specific categories, probably, where we should be and are not there yet. I'm not going to disclose which ones in particular, but for sure, there are one or two that fit very well with our content. It's a matter of time that we can find the right brand associated with our values.

The format of the LEC has changed a bit. The Spring Split Championship Points do not count towards a Gauntlet anymore, but they count towards the seeding of the Summer Split Playoffs. Why did the team decide to change this?

It's a combination of reasons. In general, what we want, is to create the best content for the audience. And the best content means that every game matters. It means that you need to have some specific reward, when you play. So we try to avoid these periods during the season that aren't very relevant. As we did in the past with the Saturday, that Saturday becomes a very relevant game. The spirit behind all the changes is trying to keep the intensity of the games and the value of the game for more games than last year. It's a trade-off. You can find positive things and negative things. There's not a specific playbook that solves everything. But our intention is, at the end of the day: deliver more interesting content to our audience. That's the main drive behind those decisions.

And that's why you decided to make the Summer Split the deciding factor for who goes to Worlds?

Yeah, it's because of those reasons. It's a combination of things that compensate and improve. Let's see how it works. We're trying to do what we think is the right call, but of course we need to wait what happens.

Your colleagues of the LCS decided that the Spring Split won't count towards Worlds qualification at all anymore—just for MSI. The Summer Split will count towards Worlds. What are your thoughts on that model?

Maybe it can work better than ours. They're trying to give relevance to the first Split, with a specific team that goes to MSI. And then Worlds for the second [Split]. We'll see. Probably, both are going to work well, because as I told you it's not black and white. But the intention of both is going in the direction of making every minute relevant of gameplay in the LEC or LCS.

How do you think the changes to the system will affect Europe's growth as a region internationally? And specifically, compared to NA and their changes?

I don't think the new system is going to affect the competitiveness or the level of the teams. If there is some effect, it would be on the viewership or on how the fans engage, attending to the goals you have. But not necessarily on the competitiveness of the teams.

Then let's talk about the rivalry between NA and EU as it is. How do you think that rivalry will develop overall, this year? Last year Europe performed very well, but the LCS came to fight at Worlds, but they fell short. Do you think both regions will grow, on an international stage?

Both have space to grow. We have one step to grow [G2 got second], and the LCS can improve their results a lot. But I wouldn't say that there is a rivalry between NA and the LEC. Rivalry is between all the regions. We're Western, English-speaking, for most of the countries, so it's easier to have [rivalries]. Some of the teams and some of the players are more keen to banter the NA league. And also casters on both leauges are doing an incredible job, fighting and playing with the others. I think it's a healthy situation. We like that. With a healthy approach, it's good to have this rivalry. Unfortunately for them we're performing a bit better right now, but this can change very, very fast. So we need to keep pushing hard.

Finally, I want to talk about what other esports leagues that are emerging could learn from the LEC, since it was such a big success. I know it's competing with your brand, but is there some advice you would give them?

Well, I don't think I'm [in a position] to give advices to the other publishers. But what I would say is that the basics of any esport is that the game needs to be fun. The game needs to have an audience, have players, and needs to be fun to view. You have a lot of examples of incredible games that everyone is playing, but that aren't developing strong connections in terms of viewership when they do esports. The only thing I would say, is: try to make your best game. Try to make the players happy playing. That is the first step. If you try to grow esports first, maybe you'll experience some trouble. So first it's about the gaming. Have a good game.