| 2016 | |
 | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Location | United States |
| Dates | September 29–October 29 |
| Administrator | Riot Games |
Tournament format(s) | 16 team round-robin group stage 8 team single-elimination bracket |
| Venue(s) | 4 (in 4 host cities)
|
| Teams | 16 |
| Purse | $5,070,000 USD[1] |
| Final positions | |
| Champion | SK Telecom T1 |
| Runner-up | Samsung Galaxy |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 75 |
| MVP | Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok (SK Telecom T1) |
The 2016 League of Legends World Championship was an esports tournament for the multiplayer online battle arena video game League of Legends. It was the sixth iteration of the League of Legends World Championship, an annual international tournament organized by the game's developer, Riot Games. It was held from September 29 to October 29, 2016, in cities across the United States. Sixteen teams qualified for the tournament based on their placement in regional circuits such as those in North America, Europe, South Korea, and China. The tournament's group stage was held at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, the quarterfinals at The Chicago Theater in Chicago, and the semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The final was held in front of a crowd of nearly 20,000 fans at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Russian-German DJ Zedd made an exclusive song for the tournament titled "Ignite" which became available for streaming viewing on the game's official YouTube channel.
SK Telecom T1 defended their title from the 2015 League of Legends World Championship by defeating runner-up Samsung Galaxy 3–2 in a best of five final series. With their win, SKT became the first three-time League of Legends world champion. SKT's Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok was named MVP of the tournament. The final prize pool reached $6.7 million, the largest single prize pool in League of Legends history. The final was followed by 43 million unique viewers, with a peak concurrent viewership of 14.7 million. Its success prompted the team in charge of the Los Angeles bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics (which ultimately led to LA hosting the 2028 Games) to look into including esports presentation technologies used by Riot Games if the bid is successful.
- ^ "Update: Fan Contributions to Worlds Prize Pool". League Of Legends. Riot. Archived from the original on April 29, 2017. Retrieved January 30, 2018.