The League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) is the professional League of Legendsesportsleague run by Riot Games in the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) region, in which ten teams compete. Each annual season of play is divided into three splits, winter, spring and summer, all consisting of three weeks of round-robin tournament play, which then conclude with play-off tournaments between the top six teams. At the end of the season, the top performing teams qualify for the annual League of Legends World Championship. The LEC represents the highest level of League of Legends play in the EMEA.
With the exception of some touring events, all games of the LEC are played live at the Riot Games Arena in Adlershof, Berlin, Germany.[1] In addition to a small studio audience, all games are streamed live in several languages on Twitch and YouTube, with broadcasts regularly attracting over 300,000 viewers.[2]
The popularity and success of the LEC has attracted significant media attention. On 30 September 2016, the French Senate unanimously adopted the last version of the Law for a Digital Republic[fr], significantly improving the visa process for LEC players and esports athletes in general, giving a legal framework to esports contracts, introducing mechanisms to ensure payment of cash prizes, specifying rights for minor esport athletes, and more.[3] A few months before, France also introduced a new esports federation, "France Esports", which has the duty to be a representative body of esports towards the government and serve as a "partner of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee for all matters relating to the recognition of electronic sports as sport in itself".[4]Spain did the same in November 2016, creating the Spanish Federation of Video Games and Esports Spanish Federation of Video Games and Esports.[5][6] The LEC has attracted sponsorships from LG UltraGear, Kia,[7]Red Bull,[8] and Erste Group.[9]
Fnatic is the only team remaining that has played in every split since the inaugural 2013 Spring Split.
The LEC announced a controversial sponsorship deal with Neom in 2020. Many of the league's staff threatened a walkout,[10] which led to the sponsorship being cancelled.
Previous names
2013–2018: European League of Legends Championship Series (EU LCS)
2019–2022: League of Legends European Championship (LEC)
2023–present: League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC)
History
Riot Games launched League of Legends in October 2009 and attracted attention from the competitive gaming community.[11] The first two seasons of competitive play consisted of a series of tournaments mostly organised by third parties, such as Intel Extreme Masters in Europe, capped by a world championship tournament hosted by Riot Games.[citation needed]
Riot Games announced the formation of the LCS on 6 August 2012,[12] creating a fully professional league run by the company with a regular schedule and guaranteed salaries for players, featuring eight teams. Since the LCS was only launched in the third year of professional play, it was dubbed "Season 3". The top three finishers in the Riot Games European regional championships held in August 2012 automatically qualified, with the remaining five teams being decided in qualifier tournaments held in January 2013. Each LCS season is divided into two splits for spring and summer; the first games of the first spring split took place on 7 February 2013 in North America and on 9 February 2013 in Europe.
At the end of the 2014 season, an expansion tournament was held in Europe that added two teams in region, giving the LCS a total of 10 teams for the start of the 2015 Season.[14] Additionally, Riot introduced the concept of "Championship points", which teams would earn based on performance across both splits and playoffs in order to qualify for the League of Legends World Championship.[15]
A new sale of sponsorship rule was instated for the 2015 season. As a result, several teams were forced to rebrand and leave their respective parent organisations.
The 2015 Summer European LCS Finals were played at Hovet Arena, Stockholm. The series ended with Fnatic winning 3–2 over Origen and peaked at close to 1 million concurrent viewers on Twitch, YouTube, and Azubu – the highest number of viewers for any LCS match to date.
The 2016 Spring European LCS finals were held at Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, with G2 winning 3–1 against Origen, making it their first LCS title. The 2016 Spring European LCS split was the first time G2 played in the professional LCS after having been promoted due to winning the European Challenger Series and European Promotion Tournament in summer 2016.
The 2016 Summer European LCS finals were played at the Tauron Arena in Kraków, Poland. G2 won 3–1 against Splyce and secured their second LCS title. Splyce would later win the 2016 Summer European Gauntlet and qualify for Worlds as the third-seeded European team.
The 2017 Spring European LCS finals were held at the Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg, Germany, where G2 won 3–1 against Unicorns of Love, securing their third LCS title and qualifying for the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI), an annually-held international League of Legends competition. G2 placed second at the MSI 2017, losing 1–3 to SKT T1, the Korean representatives, in the finals. The Summer Split LCS finals took place in Paris at the AccorHotel Arena,[16] where G2 Esports won 3–0 against Misfits Gaming.
In 2019 the league rebranded from the "Europe League Championship Series" (EU LCS) to the "League of Legends European Championship" (LEC) and began franchising.[17] Following the example of North America's LCS, which franchised a year prior, the LEC selected ten permanent franchise partners, replacing the previous promotion and relegation format. The EU LCS' secondary league, the EU Challenger Series (EUCS), was consequently discontinued and replaced with an independent tournament named European Masters, which features the top teams from Europe's many regional leagues.[18]
In 2020, the league announced via their public Twitter account a partnership with a proposed Saudi Arabian city, Neom. Following major community backlash over the human rights abuses in the country, including criminalization of LGBT people, the partnership was called off the next day. Another two days later, the league's Director of Esports EMEA, Alberto Guerrero, put out a statement apologizing to the community for the partnership decision, with emphasis on apologizing to 'women, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and League of Legends players in the Middle East'.[19]
Since 2023, Turkey, CIS and MENA have merged with Europe region to become a EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) region. The "League of Legends European Championship" become the "League of Legends EMEA Championship", meaning teams from Turkey and CIS's leagues (TCL, LCL) will no longer get direct slots for the Mid-Season Invitational and the World Championship. TCL will be a qualification of Tier-2 league EMEA Masters.
Current format
Since the rebrand of the league in 2023, 10 teams, selected through franchising, compete in the LEC. Each season is divided into three splits. The regular season of each split consists of 3 weeks of play, in which each team plays each other once in a single round-robin format, for a total of 9 games each. The top 8 teams proceed to a double-elimination bracket to crown a split champion (In 2023, this was a double-elimination group stage from which the top 2 teams of each group competed in a four-team double elimination playoff bracket). Each split's playoffs award cash prizes and Championship Points, which are used to determine seeding for the season finals.
The three split champions, plus the second and third place teams in the summer split and additional teams based on Championship Points, compete in the season finals. The season finals is a double elimination bracket, with the top 4 seeds qualifying for the upper bracket.
Overview (2024)
Stage 1
10 teams
Single round-robin, best of one
Top 8 teams advance to Stage 2
Stage 2
8 teams
Double elimination, best of three for the first two rounds of the upper and lower bracket, best of five from then on
The winners of the winter (as seed 2) and spring (as seed 1) splits qualify for the Mid-Season Invitational. If winter's winner takes championship in spring, previous seeding will be transferred to the team with the next highest championship points.
The top 3 teams of each season finals qualify for the World Championship, although if one of the LEC representatives at the Mid-Season Invitational wins MSI or if the LEC is the second-best performing region at MSI, four teams will qualify from the LEC. The summer split champions, if they didn't qualify via the season finals, would enter Worlds as the lowest seed.
The LEC primarily reaches its viewers through online streaming using its own channels on Twitch and YouTube. On Twitch alone, viewership numbers regularly exceed 200,000 for regular season play,[24] and the games have drawn over 1.7 million unique visitors.[25] In Spring 2020, the LEC reached an average minute audience of over 220,000.[26] with the Spring Finals peaking at over 817,000 consecutive viewers.[27][bettersourceneeded] However, Riot Games CEO Brandon Beck stated in 2012 that there were no immediate plans to try to bring the LCS to traditional TV, but news coverage of the regular season isn't generally limited to dedicated electronic sports news sites, such as CBS Interactive's onGamers.[28]
The scale and popularity of the LEC itself, however, has attracted considerable media attention,[29] particularly around some events that legitimised the LEC as a serious competition.
↑ Team had competed as Excel Esports before. On 14 December 2023, Excel Esports and Giants Gaming announced merger, forming GiantX.[20] Giants Gaming had been competing in EU LCS from 2013 to 2018.
↑ Karmine Corp acquired their LEC spot from Astralis in October 2023.
↑ From the 2016 Spring Split until the 2019 Summer Split, MAD Lions was known as Splyce. The team was rebranded in November 2019 when OverActive Media, the owner of the two brands, dissolved the Splyce brand to merge all of their esports ventures into MAD Lions.[21]. From 2024, MAD Lions takes a partnership with KOI after KOI has split with Rogue. Team is competing as MAD Lions KOI.
1 2 On October 6, 2022, Rogue announced a merger with KOI, an esports organisation owned by Ibai Llanos and Gerard Piqué. This will result in the existing Rogue teams rebranding to KOI. Following Infinite Reality's split with KOI in 2023, the team was reestablished. KOI later takes a partnership with MAD Lions, competing as MAD Lions KOI.
Fnatic is a professional esports organisation headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Founded on 23 July 2004, it has players from around the world competing in several games, including Apex Legends, Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, FC Online, Heroes of the Storm, League of Legends, Rainbow Six Siege, and Valorant.
The League Championship Series (LCS) is the top level of professional League of Legends in the United States and Canada. The esports league is run by Riot Games and has eight franchise teams. Each annual season of competition is divided into two splits, spring and summer, which conclude with a double-elimination tournament between the top teams. At the end of the season, the winner, runners-up and third-place team of the summer playoffs qualify for the annual League of Legends World Championship.
Origen was a professional esports organisation based in Europe. Its main League of Legends team participated in the League of Legends European Championship (LEC), the top-level league for the game in Europe. It was founded by Enrique "xPeke" Cedeño Martínez after his departure from Fnatic.
G2 Esports is a European esports organization headquartered in Berlin, Germany, with players competing in League of Legends, Valorant, Counter-Strike 2, Hearthstone, Rocket League, Rainbow Six Siege, Fortnite, and iRacing. The organization was founded in Spain on 24 February 2014 as Gamers2 by former League of Legends pro Carlos "ocelote" Rodríguez Santiago and investor Jens Hilgers. The organization rebranded as G2 Esports on 15 October 2015.
The Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) is an annual League of Legends international tournament hosted by Riot Games in the middle of years, since 2015. It is the second most important international League of Legends tournament aside from the World Championship.
Schalke 04 Esports is the esports department of football club FC Schalke 04. It has a FIFA division and a League of Legends division; the latter is a member of the Prime League, the European Regional League for League of Legends teams competing in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
Luka Perković, better known as Perkz, is a Croatian professional League of Legends player for Team Heretics.
Martin Nordahl Hansen, better known as Wunder, is a Danish professional League of Legends player. He began playing in the League of Legends European Championship (LEC) with Splyce in 2016. After two seasons with the team, he signed with G2 Esports. In his four years with the team, he won four consecutive LEC titles, was a five-time LEC All-Pro, won the 2019 Mid-Season Invitational, and was a finalist at the 2019 League of Legends World Championship. He was transferred to Fnatic prior to the start of the 2022 LEC season.
League of Legends esports is the professional competition of the multiplayer online battle arena video game League of Legends. It is developed and published by Riot Games and was first released in 2009.
Rasmus Borregaard Winther, better known as Caps, is a Danish professional League of Legends player for G2 Esports, and is widely considered the greatest western player of all time.
Rogue is a professional esports organization with teams competing across several different titles in Europe and the United States. It has two League of Legends teams based in Europe: a main team that participates in the League of Legends European Championship (LEC), and an academy team that participates in the Ultraliga. Team Rogue was founded by Franklin Villarreal, Derek Nelson and Carson Knuth in 2016, and acquired by now parent and management company ReKTGlobal and its partners in 2018. ReKTGlobal also owns the Call of Duty League team, the London Royal Ravens. The organization is co-owned by prominent DJ Steve Aoki and YouTuber Vikram "Vikkstar123" Barn. Other Investors include Imagine Dragons, Rudy Gobert, Nicky Romero, Nick Gross and Landon Collins.
MAD Lions is a Spanish esports organisation owned by OverActive Media. Its main League of Legends team, which was rebranded from Splyce, competes in Europe's top-level league for the game, the LEC. Its secondary League of Legends team competes in Spain's SuperLiga, the top three teams of which qualify for the prestigious European Masters tournament.
The 2019 League of Legends World Championship Final was a League of Legends (LoL) esports series between FunPlus Phoenix (FPX) and G2 Esports on 10 November 2019 at AccorHotels Arena in Paris, France. It marked the ninth final of a LoL World Championship and the first time either of the teams had reached the world finals. It was the first time FPX had reached Worlds. FPX were one of three Chinese representatives from the League of Legends Pro League at the 2019 Worlds, the others being Royal Never Give Up and Invictus Gaming, the victors of the previous Worlds. G2 Esports were one of three European representatives from the League of Legends European Championship alongside Fnatic and Splyce.
Gabriël Rau, better known as Bwipo, is a Belgian professional League of Legends player for FlyQuest. He currently plays in the LCS, and has previously competed in the LEC for Fnatic, where his team was the runner-up of the 2018 League of Legends World Championship.
Steven Liv, better known as Hans Sama, is a French professional League of Legends player for G2 Esports. Liv has previously played for Team Liquid in the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS), as well as Rogue and Misfits in the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC).
The 2023 LEC season is the 11th season of the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC), a professional esports league for the MOBA PC game League of Legends, and the first under new branding. The LEC rebranded from the "European Championship" to the "EMEA Championship" to broaden player eligibility. Two team changes occurred for the 2023 season, with Misfits Gaming selling their LEC franchise slot to Team Heretics and Rogue rebranding to KOI. The league also saw a major format change, expanding from two splits to three, and introduced a season final playoff. The schedule also underwent adjustments, with Superweeks every week, extending into Monday.
The 2019 LEC season is the seventh season, and the first under new branding, of the League of Legends European Championship (LEC), a professional esports league for the MOBA PC game League of Legends, following its rebranding in late 2018.
The 2024 LEC season is the 12th season of the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC), a professional esports league for the MOBA PC game League of Legends. The season is divided into three splits, Winter, Spring, and Summer, and will culminate with the LEC Season Finals.
The 2024 Mid-Season Invitational is the ninth Mid-Season Invitational (MSI), a Riot Games-organised tournament for League of Legends, a multiplayer online battle arena video game. The tournament will be hosted in Chengdu, China, from May 1 to 19, 2024. All stages of the tournament will be played at the Chengdu Financial City Performing Arts Center.
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2024 LEC season 
