Rocket League Season 9 World Championship set for Dallas cancelled over Coronavirus fears

Fans to be given refund

League Play broadcast will be moved online

No set date for World Championship

Psyonix has made the decision to cancel the Rocket League Season 9 World Championship due to the ongoing health concerns around the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

The event, which is the pinnacle of Rocket League esports, was set to be held in Dallas, Texas on 24-26 April.

In a statement on March 5, Psyonix said: "We take the safety of our competitive players, fans, and personnel very seriously." Adding, "We understand that this is frustrating, but health and safety will always be our top priority."

The RLCS World Championship brings together the four best teams from North America and Europe and the two best from South America and Oceania to compete for a share of the $300,000+ prize pool and has previously been held in London, Madrid and Las Vegas.

An Important Update Regarding Rocket League Esports



Read here: https://t.co/9OpPQKAYps pic.twitter.com/hZSPkRMxjX — Rocket League Esports (@RLEsports) March 5, 2020

Fans who have bought tickets to attend the event at the Curtis Culwell Center will be given a full refund, and the exclusive Wheel promised to attendees will be awarded in April.

In addition to the cancellation of the World Championship event, the decision has also been made to change the broadcasts of the RLCS and the Rival Series. The broadcast talent will no longer be in-studio with them expect to do their job remotely.



The live studio broadcast is a popular aspect of Rocket League esports (Credit: Psyonix)

The RLCS Season 9 League Play schedule will not change, with the end-of-season Regional Championships and Promotion Tournaments also set to go-ahead. All of which are played online.

The RLCS is currently in the fifth week of an eight week season.

How Psyonix plan to decide the winner of Season 9 is not yet known, as an online event, considering the geographical spread of the teams involved, seems impossible.

Psyonix said they are "evaluating all options to replace World Championship play." Adding, "Once we have more information to share, we'll update everyone."

This is just the latest event in esports that has been affected due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

This week Riot Games recently announced that the League of Legends Champions Korea was going on indefinite hiatus following on from cancellations or postponements in the Overwatch League, China's League of Legends Pro League and the Toyko Tekken Masters.

Fans of Rocket League esports may also fear for the next big tournament, the Intel World Open, which is being held in partnership with the Toyko 2020 Summer Olympics.

While Japanese authorities claim that the Olympic Games will still go-ahead, with a live qualifier to be held in Katowice in June - a city that banned ticket holders from attending the recent Counter-Strike: Global Offensive IEM due to Coronavirus - fears are growing that it may be just a matter of time before that event is cancelled too.