2026 LCS season

Last updated

2026 LCS season
League LCS
Sport League of Legends
Number of teams8
LCS seasons
2027 →

The 2026 LCS season is the upcoming 14th season of the League Championship Series (LCS), a North American professional esports league for the video game League of Legends . It will be the first season after the league's reinstatement following the discontinuation of the League of Legends Championship of The Americas (LTA), which merged the LCS with the Campeonato Brasileiro de League of Legends (CBLOL), which was also reinstated, and the Liga Latinoamérica (LLA) in 2025. [1]

Contents

It will also be first LCS season under the new three-split structure and competitive calendar introduced by the game's developer Riot Games during the 2025 competitive season. [2]

Background

The LCS initially ceased following Riot Games' announcement on June 11, 2024, in a blog post titled "LoL Esports: Building Towards A Brighter Future" that the LCS, CBLOL and LLA would plan to merge into a Pan-American league that would begin play in 2025, [3] which would eventually be known as the League of Legends Championship of The Americas or LTA. The new merged league, which consisted of two conferences (North and South), had its first season in 2025, but was met with criticism on branding, competitive gaps between the Northern and Southern teams, and split formats. As a result, the new league struggled in viewership numbers. In the LTA North, the second and third splits only garnered an estimated 147,000 and 159,000 peak viewers respectively - significantly lower than the Spring and Summer splits of the 2024 LCS season. [4] [5]

During the maiden LTA Championship Finals between FlyQuest of the North Conference (now LCS) and Vivo Keyd Stars of the South Conference (now CBLOL), Riot Games announced that the LCS and CBLOL would return as independent leagues beginning with the 2026 competitive season. [1]

League changes

Teams

Before the lone LTA season in 2025, it was announced that both Immortals and NRG Esports, two teams from the most recent LCS season, would leave competitive League of Legends, reducing the league's number of teams to eight. [6]

Three team changes occurred heading into the 2026 season. On July 19, 2025, 100 Thieves confirmed its departure from the league after its 2025 season in the LTA and its final World Championship appearance in 2025, with the LCS announcing on October 10 that Sentinels would take its place from the 2026 season onward. [7] Following the LCS's reinstatement on September 28, 2025, LYON, who was selected as a partner team in the former LTA North from the former LLA, confirmed its participation for the 2026 LCS season. [8] . Disguised would also win the LTA North promotion and relegation tournament to advance to its first LCS season in 2026.

Format

Following Riot Games' announcement of a new split structure and competitive calendar for League of Legends esports beginning with the 2025 competitive season and the reinstatement of the LCS, it is expected that the league's format will follow a three-split structure. Starting in 2026, the LCS will have one guest team similar to the lone LTA season, where the guest team will be subject to promotion and relegation against teams from Tier 2 leagues (North American Challengers League and Liga Regional Norte). [9]

The LCS will also have the same number of qualified teams to all three international competitions each as with the LCK, LCP, LEC, and LPL - one for the First Stand Tournament, two for the Mid-Season Invitational, and three for the League of Legends World Championship (a fourth slot can be unlocked if an LCS team finishes as a finalist at minimum at MSI).

References

  1. 1 2 Ciocchetti, Cecilia (September 28, 2025). "Riot bids farewell to the LTA as LCS and CBLOL return in 2026". Esports Insider. Retrieved September 28, 2025.
  2. ↑ "LoL Esports: Building Towards A Brighter Future". lolesports.com. Retrieved September 29, 2025.
  3. ↑ Wilson, Jason (June 11, 2024). "Riot Games rolls out consolidation plan, new spring event for League of Legends esports". Sports Business Journal . Retrieved September 29, 2025.
  4. ↑ Xu, Davide (June 16, 2025). "LTA North Split 2 records decrease in viewership". Esports Insider. Retrieved September 29, 2025.
  5. ↑ "LTA North 2025 Split 3". Esports Charts. Retrieved September 29, 2025.
  6. ↑ Gan, Jeremy (September 11, 2024). "NRG and Immortals reportedly leaving LCS amid 2025 Americas restructure". Dexerto. Retrieved October 2, 2025.
  7. ↑ Boksner, Leo (July 19, 2025). "LoL: 100 Thieves to exit LTA North after 2025". Sheep Esports. Retrieved September 29, 2025.
  8. ↑ "La LTA nunca existió.Nos vemos en la LCS 2026". LYON. September 28, 2025 – via X (formerly Twitter).
  9. ↑ "LCS and CBLOL Return!". lolesports.com. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
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