Interview: Head of League of Legends Esports Americas discusses why the LCS and CBLOL are back

After a year of the League of The Americas (LTA), Riot Games will restore the LCS and CBLOL as independent leagues in 2026. 

The decision reinstates the historic names and regional identities, while retaining some innovations that were tested in 2025. Veteran fans of the leagues rejoiced at the announcement made during the LTA Finals, but many questions still remain unanswered. 

At the end of 2024, Riot Games merged North, Central, and South America under the LTA, aiming to create a stronger competitive ecosystem and a new business model. Teams would share revenue from digital content rather than sponsorships, and two conferences were introduced to balance local identity with cross-regional matchups.

By late 2025, the model had shown clear weaknesses. Fans found the structure complex, the calendar too compressed, and regional identity diminished. Just one year after introducing the LTA, Riot announced that the LCS and CBLOL would return, with longer splits, clearer qualification paths, and restored finals that celebrate regional champions.

To explain the reasons behind this decision, Cecilia Ciocchetti of Esports Insider spoke with Carlos Antunes, Riot Games’ Head of League of Legends Esports for the Americas. 

“I think it’s important to fans that there are many things we could do, but now our focus is to deliver what fans were missing and to show them the best solution for the problems they were missing,” stated Antunes. 

“So we will provide a league that has formats and calendars that are easier to follow, that are more connected to what they were missing, and we’ll still keep on working on that.”

Antunes explained that the LTA was designed as part of a broader global strategy to right-size the competitive ecosystem. 

The goal was to provide teams with a more sustainable financial base, ensure the right number of partners, and establish a model where revenues came from digital content rather than sponsorships. He said this approach was meant to “create a better business model for teams.”

At the Americas level, Riot Games believed the ‘one league, two conferences’ system could combine regional familiarity with pan-American play. Fans would still watch their local teams compete, while the strongest squads could qualify for broader continental stages. The model, Antunes explained, aimed to balance regional pride with the appeal of higher-stakes matches.

Some aspects worked as intended. According to Antunes, the structure did improve competitiveness and engagement at certain points in the season. Changes during Split Two of 2025 also temporarily increased satisfaction by focusing on regional play. However, the compressed schedule and dual layers of regional and continental competition proved too complex. 

“We ended up creating formats that were hard to follow,” said Antunes.

In the end, Riot determined that the structural flaws outweighed the benefits. Antunes admitted that fans missed the consistent experience of their original leagues, where storylines and regional finals were central.

“Even though some fans said just give us back the brands, we knew what they were missing was longer regional splits, more time to see their teams, a less compressed schedule, and less interruption in the narrative,” he explained.

By Split Two, Riot Games had begun to see that the problem went beyond branding. Antunes explained that while change often takes time, the structure of the LTA product would not meet expectations quickly enough. He noted that some fans were pleased with the stronger competition between regions, but this came at a structural cost.

By mid-year, Riot concluded that rolling back to proven models was the only way to address fan concerns.

Antunes emphasised that Riot remains committed to evolving the leagues, but not at the cost of alienating the community. “If we agree that we went too far, we will move back and adjust,” he said. 

This, he explained, is how Riot intends to maintain trust while continuing to experiment with formats in the future.

While LCS and CBLOL are returning as standalone leagues, Riot Games has decided not to revive Liga Latinoamérica (LLA) in its previous form, raising concerns about the future of that region. However, according to Antunes, the Latin American teams themselves have given Riot “overwhelmingly positive” feedback on the changes coming in 2026.

“Teams see these changes as a meaningful step toward addressing fan concerns and better at meeting community expectations,” said Antunes, sharing how LLA teams have reaffirmed their commitment to partnering with Riot.

He explained that instead of maintaining a separate league structure, Riot will focus on strengthening Latin America’s role within a unified system. According to the Rioter, LLA teams see this evolution as an opportunity to “strengthen their presence,” unify brands across regions, and ensure more consistent international exposure for players. 

“The outlook has been consistently optimistic and forward-looking, with everyone aligned on delivering a richer and more rewarding experience for fans,” Antunes concluded.

With the return of independent leagues, international qualification will revert to the system in place before the LTA.

LCS will qualify one team for First Stand, two for MSI, and three for Worlds, while CBLOL will qualify one team for each event.

Antunes said this was a deliberate choice to reconnect with past structures rather than reassign slots based on performance. 

“As we roll back the leagues, we’re going to be reconnecting to what fans had and keep on growing from that,” he explained. In 2024, LCS historically had one, two, and three slots across international events, while CBLOL had one — and Riot wanted to return to that baseline.

However, it could be argued that South American teams’ recent performances at international events warranted more opportunities on the global stage. 

But Antunes stated that regional priorities differ, and for South America, the focus will be on creating more structured connections to the international stage.

“Working on the path from South America into international events is a priority for us,” he commented. 

“Creating more cross-regional events outside the regional calendar is also a priority”

Back in June 2025, Antunes gave an interview to Esports Insider where he said, “we’re not here to discuss whether the rebrand has failed or not.”

Many fans interpreted this as dismissive of their concerns, sparking further backlash against the LTA. Antunes now says he should have used different words. He clarified that his intention was not to defend the LTA branding but to emphasise that the real problem went deeper. 

“I really think I should have used different words. The idea is that regardless of the brand LTA, even if people liked the brand LTA, the fact that we were seeing the breaking of people’s identification with the league and their connection, that was a problem that we wanted to fix,” he explained.

Riot Games’ Head of Esports for the Americas also argued that keeping the LCS and CBLOL names under the LTA structure would not have solved the issue, because it was the overall fan experience that had broken down. 

“It was never just about the name, it was something else — the bigger experience of the league,” said Antunes. 

He explained that even if fans accepted the LTA brand, the underlying issue was the loss of emotional connection to the leagues themselves. Antunes admitted that the statement may have come across as overlooking fan sentiment when, in reality, it was the opposite. And that the fans’ feedback convinced Riot to act. 

While Tier 1 competitions are at the centre of Riot’s latest announcement, it would be disingenuous not to speak about the Tier 2 ecosystem in the Americas.

Unlike Europe, where competitions are geographically distributed, Antunes highlighted that Tier 2 in the Americas is more concentrated geographically, meaning teams, investors, and fans overlap heavily. This creates fewer opportunities for independent local ecosystems to grow.

Despite this, Riot has seen encouraging signs. Many players who played in Tier 1 in LTA North and South recently came from Tier 2, including two of the three teams that advanced to the 2025 Americas Playoff. “We’re seeing really talented players benefiting from the structure of Tier 2 – Tier 1 partnerships and growing faster, and that’s where we want to go,” said Antunes.

He confirmed that changes are planned for 2026 to incentivise participation in Tier 2 competitions further, but with prudence.

“We really want to make it not only its own thing; it has to make sense as a Tier 2, but also find better ways to connect it with Tier 1,” Antunes continued.

The goal is to create more mobility, stability, and opportunity for up-and-coming players across the Americas, not to copy the ecosystem in EMEA.

Antunes further explained, however, that his team has been in contact with EMEA teams to exchange ideas on how EMEA Regional Leagues approach their competitions. The purpose of these conversations is to try and help strengthen the Americas’ Tier 2 and 3 scenes, accelerate player development, and support the path to pro. He shared that Riot is also reviewing academy team rules, competition formats, and calendar structures to improve overall league stability and performance moving forward. 

Furthermore, Riot Games plans to expand Tier 2 with new cross-regional events. Initiatives like Americas Challenger, described by Antunes as “a Tier 2 MSI,” offered valuable learnings. However, the aim is to make the Americas’ grassroot ecosystem “more dynamic and more oxygenated through the year.”

The return of the LCS and CBLOL reflects Riot’s acknowledgement that the LTA experiment failed to preserve what fans valued most. The new name, brand, less teams, compressed schedule, and complex formats disconnected audiences from their regional identities, which made these competitions part of fans’ lives. 

Antunes was clear that Riot wants to evolve, but only in a way that respects the emotional core of regional fandoms. The rollback shows a willingness to reverse course when changes go too far, even if it means admitting missteps.

For fans, the return of the LCS and CBLOL is more than a name change. It is a reaffirmation of their place at the heart of League of Legends esports.