Riot Games announce end of LTA as LCS, CBLOL return in 2026

Riot Games will bring back the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) and Campeonato Brasileiro de League of Legends (CBLOL) as independent leagues in 2026, closing the League of Legends Championship of the Americas (LTA) after just one season.

The reversal comes after persistent fan complaints about the loss of regional identity and frustration with an overly complex, compressed League of Legends format.

Launched in 2025, the LTA merged the North and South American leagues into two conferences linked by cross-conference play.

It was pitched as a way to raise the level of competition and deliver more high-stakes matches.

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While some tweaks—like weekend matchdays—landed well, the broader structure never clicked.

Fans said the merger blurred long-standing regional rivalries, and the league struggled to build a clear identity.

Viewership trends reinforced those concerns. Peaks and averages declined from Split 1 to Split 2, and the cross-conference finals failed to reach the heights once seen by the LCS or CBLOL.

On the competitive side, familiar powers led their conferences, but the new rivalries didn’t carry the same weight.

Organizational churn, including departures and slot moves, underscored the instability of the experiment.

Riot will restore the LCS in North America and CBLOL in Brazil, with simpler, clearer formats designed to re-center regional pride.

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Expect the leagues to keep select LTA innovations that actually helped the product—particularly scheduling improvements—while scrapping the complexity that alienated fans.

This reset acknowledges that tradition matters.

By pairing recognizable brands with streamlined structures, 2026 becomes a referendum on whether familiar identities and cleaner formats can stabilize the Americas’ League of Legends ecosystem after a turbulent year of experimentation.