VALORANT Champions 2026 Tickets: Prices, Dates and the Rules You Need to Read First

Riot has opened the first round of VALORANT Champions 2026 ticketing. Tickets for the Group and Bracket Stage at Jing’an Sports Center go on general sale on 2 September at 11:00 AM CST, with a Mastercard priority window three days earlier.

The prices are reasonable. The rules are not what most fans will expect.

Champions runs on real-name ticketing with facial recognition at the door. Your ticket ties to your passport, resale is impossible, and Riot has banned a long list of things that count as standard at esports events elsewhere. So if you are weighing up the trip, the entry rules matter more than the seat map.

When Tickets Go On Sale

Two windows:

• Mastercard priority: 30 August, 11:00 AM CST to 1 September, 11:00 AM CST
• General sale: 2 September, 11:00 AM CST

Priority access covers Mastercard holders outside Mainland China. First you enter the first eight digits of your card at checkout, then payment has to complete on that same card.

International fans buy through MAISEAT. Mainland China buys through Damai instead.

Riot lists both dates as currently scheduled, so treat them as planned rather than locked.

Two Venues, and Only One Is On Sale

The Group and Bracket Stage runs at Jing’an Sports Center. Finals Weekend then moves across Shanghai to the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Pudong.

However, only the first has tickets so far. Anyone building a trip around the closing matches still has to wait, which makes booking flights right now a gamble.

Ticket Prices

Weekday dates are 24, 29 and 30 September, plus 8, 9 and 10 October. Weekend dates are 25, 26 and 27 September, plus 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 11 October.

Tier	Weekday	Weekend
Tier 1 Bundle	¥1,128	¥1,208
Tier 1	¥488	¥568
Tier 2	¥366	¥468
Tier 3	¥288	¥388
Tier 4	¥198	¥288

Tier 4 on a weekday costs less than most European esports events charge for a back-row seat. So the ticket itself is not what makes this trip expensive.

The Tier 1 Bundle covers Chinese residents only, and Riot caps it per show day. It ships a VALORANT Championship Trophy Maglev Bluetooth Speaker separately.

Standard Tier 1 buys something better than merchandise. Riot may pick Tier 1 holders for the player walkout experience and post-match interviews, which puts you closer to the players than any seat upgrade normally does.

Your Ticket Ties to Your Passport

Every ticket registers to one named person, and entry runs on facial recognition matched against that registration.

For international attendees:

• Buy using your passport as your ID
• Bring that same physical passport to the venue
• Ticket details must match the passport exactly
• Failed verification means no entry

Each account can buy four tickets per event, and every ticket needs its own valid ID. Using one ID across multiple official platforms for the same session can cancel your whole order.

There is no fixing a typo at the gate. Therefore check the passport field twice before paying.

Resale is impossible by design. That kills scalping, but it also means a cancelled trip cannot be salvaged by passing your ticket to a friend. The refund window is your only exit.

One more thing worth knowing here: attending means accepting that Riot and its media partners may film you and use your image worldwide for coverage and marketing. Combined with facial recognition at the door, that is a lot of personal data for one esports ticket.

Cosplay Is Allowed, but Your Face Has to Match Your ID

This is where the facial recognition system collides with fan culture.

Cosplay is welcome. Your face just has to stay recognisable and match your passport photo, which rules out face paint, full or partial coverings, and makeup that substantially changes your appearance.

The physical rules are firm:

• Costumes max out at 1.2m wide, 1.8m long, 2.4m tall
• Props cap at 0.3m
• Metal and wooden costumes do not get in
• You need to clear standard security screening and sit without blocking anyone

Riot has also banned weapon props entirely. Swords, replica firearms, bows, 3D-printed pieces, Worbla, foam, all of it. For a game built around gunplay, that closes off most of the obvious costumes.

One more caveat: Riot, the venue and local authorities make the final call on any costume at the door. In other words, passing the written rules is not a guarantee.

The Crowd Cannot Make Noise Either

Flags, flagpoles, banners, signs, streamers, slogans and LED signs all stay outside. Team support items you would see at any Masters event or in a Worlds crowd do not get through the door.

Then there is the second half, which gets less attention. Musical instruments, whistles, horns, drums and any other amplifying equipment are out too. So the two normal ways a crowd expresses itself, visually and audibly, are both closed off.

Laptops and tablets appear on the list as well, alongside professional cameras, interchangeable lenses, monopods, tripods, gimbals, flashes, selfie sticks, GoPros and handheld recorders. Unauthorised streaming from any device is forbidden.

Also out: drones, pets, vapes and e-cigarettes, lighters, laser pointers, fireworks, and anything inflatable or throwable.

Outside food and drink do not get in, and neither do glass or breakable containers of any kind. Bags have to fit under your seat and stay within 16.5 by 20.5 by 5.5 inches. Prams and buggies stay outside, and Jing’an Sports Center offers no bag storage or coat check at all.

Daily Schedule

Local time, every show day:

• Doors open: 3:30 PM
• Pre-show countdown: 4:00 PM
• Pre-show: 4:30 PM
• Show start: 5:00 PM

Re-entry works on the same ticket and ID, although you clear security again each time.

Refunds Have a Hard Deadline

MAISEAT accepts refund applications from 2 September at 11:00 AM CST until 17 September at 2:00 PM CST, minus a 3.5% processing fee. You apply through MAISEAT customer service or by email to service@mail.maiseat.com.

The conditions are strict. Refunds cover the whole order rather than single tickets, and each account gets one refund per event day. Furthermore, rebuy for that day afterwards and the new tickets lose refund eligibility entirely.

Money returns to the original payment method in roughly five to ten business days.

Note the date. The refund window shuts on 17 September, a week before the first match. After that, nothing is refundable and nothing transfers.

One more risk: anyone Riot removes from the venue for harassment or disruptive behaviour may forfeit their refund and can lose access to future Riot events.

Seating, Age Limits and Accessibility

Seat selection is not offered at purchase. Multi-ticket orders get adjacent seats where possible, and final seat details land in your ticket wallet two to three days before the event.

Riot also states plainly that some seats will have partial obstruction from stage design and lighting, and that buying a ticket means accepting that risk.

Under-14s need an adult of 18 or older present. Under-twos enter free with a parent or guardian.

Riot has issued a specific warning about strobes and flashing light effects, which may affect anyone with photosensitive epilepsy or other light sensitivities. The show also runs high sound levels throughout. If either applies to you, plan around it rather than finding out on the night.

Is the Trip Worth It?

Depends what you want out of a live event.

If you go for the matches, this is straightforward. Tickets are cheap, the venue sits centrally, and Champions is the biggest event on the VALORANT calendar. Book inside the refund window, watch world-class Valorant, done.

If you go for the crowd, think harder. Almost everything that makes an esports arena feel alive is out here. No flags, no banners, no signs, no drums, no horns. Cosplay survives, but without face paint, without props and without weapons, which strips out most of what makes a VALORANT costume read as a VALORANT costume. In short, what you are buying is a very good seat at a very controlled broadcast.

And the timing question is real. Because Finals Weekend is not on sale, committing to flights now means gambling on getting tickets for the matches that actually decide the title.

Where to Buy

International fans use MAISEAT and nothing else. Riot has warned specifically against unofficial sites, social sellers and secondary marketplaces, which carries more weight than usual when a resold ticket cannot pass identity verification anyway.

Full details sit on the VALORANT Esports site.

More VALORANT coverage lands on our VALORANT news hub.