LoL Park Seoul – a tour the exclusive LCK stadium

Learn more about LoL Park, the esports stadium and entertainment arena made specifically for the LCK in Seoul by Riot Games.

Image Credits | Riot Games

LoL Park – the arena for esports fans

Are you a gamer or a League of Legends fan? Are you looking for cool and flashy places to visit during your time in Korea? We probably have a great place to recommend: LoL Park.

It is located on the third floor of the Gran Seoul building in Jongno, central Seoul. Riot Games mentioned it invested around 100 billion won ($88.9 million) and it has been the arena used by the LCK to play and serves all their matches since 2018. In that same year, LoL Park also hosted the 2018 LoL World Championship and it will be used once again in 2023 for the Worlds play-in stage from October 10 to October 15.

How big is the stadium?

LoL Park has a total space of 18,000 square meters and several areas among which the sand with a Roman coliseum design stands out, a stage where players face each other in a semicircle. It has a total capacity of 500 people and it has Figueras seats installed in a retractable tribune, allowing the capacity of the arena to be modified based on the specific needs of the event, becoming the perfect solution to achieve the best optimization of the space.

How is LoL Park designed?

In front of the stadium lies the FOH (Front of House) which serves as a welcoming space for fans. It includes a foyer, café, exhibition, meet-and-greet zone, and merch shop. The BOH (Back of House), instead, houses all the backstage facilities related to broadcasting, office staff, and player amenities.

The arena has a form of a round open booth, allowing players to sit and play in the middle while the spectators can watch the players very closely from behind, and potentially even see the players’ screens. In addition, there is a large screen located at the top of the stage which makes the viewing experience even more incredible.

Image Credits | LCK

Riot Games Korea has also created a fan meeting zone to facilitate meetups between esports players and fans, as well as designated rooms and spaces for esports coaches and players to prepare for matches.

For esports fans and gamers out there, this is one of the best places to visit: you will get an extraordinary view and the chance to see your favorite teams and professional players competing in front of you. And even if you don’t get the chance to watch the series, you can still visit the entire facility, which has various sections and designated rooms for everything, from the merch store to the cafeteria, and even the PC bangs.

On top of that, most people inside the arena will be able to assist you with anything. Since it’s a popular place visited by foreigners as well, the staffers have a good level of English to facilitate communication.

LoL Park is not just an esports arena…

Things don’t end there, though. For the audience, the arena is just the beginning: the arena is directly connected to Riot Games and you can use both the elevator and the escalator to check out the establishment and the other areas, including:

1. Official Merch Store

Here you can buy all the items and accessories you want. From plushies to pins, clothes, or figures, you can find basically anything related to League of Legends, as well as other game titles, such as VALORANT (even though they are lower in quantity).

If you happen to be lucky, you might be able to find limited merch from the last world championships: those are extremely rare and it might be one of your last chances to get your hands on them (unless you want to buy them online from private sellers).

2. The official store for the LCK

Located right next to the stadium and after the Bilgewater Cafe, you can find all the merchandise related to the Korean League and its participating teams, mainly selling jerseys of all sizes. That said, it’s recommended to look online as well, especially if you’re looking for non-jersey items.

Many people usually buy the shirts from here so make sure to ask for the right size. The M, L, and XL are usually the most popular sizes (gaming jerseys are usually tight so get a bigger size to be comfortable) so hope that they are not sold out.

3. Bilgewater cafe

The cafe perfectly resembles the style and the vibe given by the homonymous region, with ad-hoc decorations and details to bring you in n the League of Legends universe.

Image Credits | Riot Games

Here you can grab something to eat or drink and just relax for a bit while enjoying the location or taking a look at the exhibition. Luckily for foreigners, there is a machine with multiple languages available, allowing you to get a good eating or drinking experience even if you’re not able to speak Korean well.

4. Riot PC bang

If you felt like you had the need to play League of Legends or other games in the arena, Riot made sure you could do that in their own PC Bang (PC Cafe). With more than 100 seats, gamers can get access to the best gaming hardware and an internet connection to play, paying based on how much time they spent there. The PC Bang was added later compared to the Esports arena, becoming fully functional in 2019.

Image Credits | @AshleyKang

And while it is a bit more expensive than other PC Bangs, the gaming quality and the overall location are definitely worth the money. If you happen to love video games (which you most likely do), this is a great place to enjoy some quality time with friends.

5. The LCK exhibition

This place displays the shirts of all the Korean professional teams and a bit of the story of competitions. There is also a special place for the world cup for when the Korean professional teams win the championship, which they did in 2022 with the underdog DRX. If you happen to drop by in the next few months, you will likely see the trophy.

6. League of Legends Esports stadium

The arena, unfortunately, is only accessible to those watching the games. If you want to see LCK teams in action, you can buy the tickets on the Interpark website. Make sure to check early and often to see the availability or else tickets will likely be sold out (they normally are available for sale two days before the game).

The ‘arena’ layout was chosen to break from the conventional one to highlight the rivalry and encourage the supporting fan culture. In most locations, the layout would have an end-stage with the two teams playing on a horizontal line with a gap in the middle.

LoL Park, instead, wanted to allow fans to get the best viewing experience possible, with the goal of making it more exciting and allowing them to see players’ movements and action firsthand. Since esports pros deliver their gameplay and performances through the screens, this layout adds one extra layer of interaction which is extremely valuable. You can see their faces, expressions, and allow you to get a closer look at how they react to actions and plays.

The designers had a tough job to achieve

When designing the arena, one of the main challenges was figuring out how to make the perfect layout of the FOH. It was important that visitors could be guided to the stadium without confusion, but at the same time, find a way to attract and allow them to explore the building themselves.

To reach this goal, a pathway was added between the elevator shafts, and a separate zone was created next to the shuttle elevator, providing access to the entrance hall, stadium foyer, café, and restrooms. By doing so, visitors would use the shortcut but also get potentially attracted to the various shops and areas in between.

Image Credits | @LSXYZ9

The atmosphere of the FOH and the stadium were also designed to arouse a sense of strain and rivalry, key elements of esports and competition. By using aluminum foam panels in the core area and the steel grating while pairing them with the dim lights, the overall effect was an electrifying view with scenic vibes.

How can you get to LoL Park?

You can find the park on the third floor of the Gran Seoul Building next to Jonggak Station (Line 1)/ 종각역 1호선 B1. The closest exit to the building is exit number 1. If you’re not familiar with Seoul or struggle to orientate yourself, it is best to use Google maps or the NAVER map app.