Esports Host of the Year Dash has been removed from the LCS broadcast

League of Legends Championship Series host and 2022 Esports Awards Host of the Year James ‘Dash’ Patterson has announced that he will not be returning to the LCS broadcast for the 2023 season.

Initially taking to Twitter to share the news, Dash says that the LCS is taking a “new direction” that doesn’t require a consistent host, leaving his current command post redundant. However, he does note that he will “still be involved from time to time in key moments and some content.” His team remains “in active discussions” with developer League Riot Games to explore other avenues in which he can continue to be involved in the scene.

Having taken on a role at Riot a decade ago, Dash would eventually assume the role of then-host of the NA LCS in 2014. Since then, his passion, professionalism, and ability to run a desk like clockwork have continually earned him praise from around the world. . the scene. So it’s incredibly fitting that he finally took home the best presenter award at last year’s Esports Awards.

Following the announcement, Dash delves into the minutiae of what happened in a personal Twitch stream. According to Dash, the news that he would no longer be a part of the LCS “came out of the blue” and the host found out about it through a phone call from his agent when he arrived at work one morning during the LCS Playoffs.

While Dash will no longer be the face of the LCS, as he points out in his parting statement, he will still be around in some capacity. Also, in response to Cloud9 Valorant star Anthony ‘vanity’ Malaspina wishing to ‘bring it home’ to Riot’s FPS game, Dash says “every producer in the Valorant space knows I’m free and available”, so that we might see it cross over at some point once again like it did in 2021.

In the long term though, Dash’s future could lie outside of Riot entirely. As a trained actor, and having only recently started broadcasting, there could still be opportunities further afield.