Riot Games announce ERL 2026 dates and changes

Jack Stewart, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 27/11/2025

Riot Games has confirmed upcoming changes to League of Legends’ EMEA Regional Leagues (ERLs) for the 2026 esports season.

The 13 ERLs, spread out across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, are EMEA’s second division which offers a pathway to the LEC for aspiring rookies.

Though the future of the leagues is in question as popular Los Ratones are leaving the NLC and the ERLs altogether.

Riot has revealed that major updates are coming, including an update to locality rules, which could massively change the ecosystem.

Local rules removed for 2026 ERL season

Previously, Riot had mandated that teams across all 13 ERLs had to field at least two locally trained representatives (LTRs).

For example, Los Ratones were ok in Northern Europe’s NLC thanks to Swedish pros Simon ‘Baus’ Hofverberg and Martin ‘Rekkles’ Larsson.

Last season, Riot changed this rule so that leagues could impose stricter LTR rules to better fit their region. For example, if a region needed to develop more local talent.

However, for 2026 Riot is removing the LTR mandate entirely and is instead allowing tournament organisers more flexibility.

Each organiser will instead set the roster limits to better suit each situation.

France’s highly competitive LFL is reportedly removing this requirement, which is why many expected Los Ratones to move there.

However, Marc ‘Caedrel’ Lamont has confirmed that Los Ratones will not compete in any Tier 2 competition next year.

Riot insists that this change doesn’t mean that the ERL’s emphasis on developing young talent is changing:

“Fostering regional talent is what enables our TOs to engage with local fans and connect with meaningful sponsorships.

“We want to instead empower TOs to deliver the best product possible for their audiences.”

New tournament organiser takes over Spain’s ERL

Riot has also confirmed that Liga de Videojuegos Profesional (LVP) will no longer be in charge of Spain’s regional league.

Instead, event organisers Last Lap will collaborate with Cabal Esports on running the Spanish ERL next year.

The Spanish ERL has historically been one of EMEA’s strongest leagues, producing three previous EMEA Masters winners in Origen, MAD Lions, and Team Heretics.

The 13 ERLs competing in the 2026 season will be:

• Ligue Française de LoL
• Prime League (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)
• LoL Italian Tournament
• Arabian League (Middle East and Africa)
• Hellenic Legends League (Greece and Cyprus)
• Hitpoint Masters (Czech Republic and Slovakia)
• Northern LoL Championship (UK and Nordics)
• Rift Legends (Poland and the Baltics)
• Liga Portuguesa de LoL
• Esports Balkan League
• Road of Legends (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg)
• Turkish Championship League
• Spain ERL

LoL ERL schedule 2026

Riot has announced that each ERL will have its own schedule, but has given the rough dates for the 2026 season.

The season begins with the Winter Split, which will take place from January 7th until March 8th, followed by EMEA Masters Winter between March 9th–15th.

Then the Spring Split will run from March 23rd to June 7th, with an EMEA Masters between June 8th–25th.

And the Summer Split will be much longer, taking place from June 26th to September 17th.

The final EMEA Masters of the year will then take place between September 21st to October 19th so it shouldn’t clash with the LoL World Championships.

Riot has not confirmed whether the EMEA Masters Summer 2026 winners will get to compete in LEC Versus in 2027.

Thanks to a new format, Los Ratones and Karmine Corp Blue will compete with LEC teams in LEC Versus next year.

Jack Stewart, Senior Editor

In my seven years of esports writing, I've introduced esports coverage to newspapers, interviewed some of the biggest names in the industry, and driven viewers mad with the puns in my YouTube scripts. I'm most proud of the latter.

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