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GamingRiot denies LEC online rumors, but I think it still makes a lot of sense
[Update] The rumor mill has been churning over the last few months that the League of Legends EMEA Championship could become an online league. This includes a recent claim from co-streamer Kim “Wadid” Bae-in, but Riot has denied the claims.
LEC Director Max Schmidt told The Esports Radar that the Berlin Arena will remain the LEC headquarters: “We will continue to evaluate and evolve our production approach, including formats like Roadtrips, select no-audience match days, and the potential for limited online play.”
While the “full online by 2027” rumors are likely untrue, this statement doesn’t rule the option out completely. Either way, I still think it makes sense to change the LEC to an online format.
[Original] The recent online speculation comes from Wadid, who was clipped and posted to Reddit and X, stating a trusted source tells him it’s likely happening.
This is the most recent, high-profile comment on the league going online. Previously, Richard “Rich” Wells, the former H2K owner and now agent in the scene, has also hinted at rumours.
Back in January, Rich began a new segment on his Euroleague podcast about the LEC possibly becoming an online league, as the rumour mill suggested at the time.
“I think something that is worth mentioning as well. And this isn’t confirmed, it is largely rumor mill or whatever, there is a suggestion that the LEC… We’ve been seeing all the cutbacks they’ve been making on the broadcast that there’s a serious suggestion that the league could go fully online,” he said.
A third, unintentional hint for the 2027 online rumors emerged from Kim ‘Noah’ Ha-neul, the bot laner for GiantX. In a YouTube interview with Spanish co-streamer Skain, live at the LEC Studio, Noah mentioned that he had heard that in the coming years, matches might be held in Málaga, the home base of the GiantX organization.
Though this is less concrete, SK Gaming already operates from SK’s home base in Cologne and commutes to Berlin for game days.
Rumors keep pointing to LEC going online because it just makes sense to do it
As Rich said, it’s about money and cutbacks.
Ever since Esports Winter began two years ago, amid the 2024 tech cutbacks, in a world now dominated by AI investment, esports and, naturally, gaming are taking a back seat to funding. Throw on top financial issues, rising interest rates, and taking on loans and investments, and it’s more costly than ever. Esports is notorious for its inability to generate returns on investment, with many products and organizations often relying on venture capital to stay afloat.
With that pond drying up, it’s naturally relying on harder cash reserves, and consequently, cost-cutting is fairly natural in the scene. It’s part of the reason why Franchise is as lucrative as it is, as it keeps a long-term investment incredibly secure for those who bought in, and seems to be making money back, especially for organizations selling or partially selling, like in the Astralis situation, sharing a slot with Karmine Corp.
We strongly recommend looking at the Four Horsemen episode for some pretty important background on why Franchising became a thing. And why it’s foolhardy to expect that to go away as of right now.
We’ve even seen evidence that there’s no prize money in the regional leagues anymore. A sign of further adjustments to what money there is and of sticking it elsewhere. Though let’s be real, who actually cares about prize money in a franchise league, when it’s all about selling sponsor money, esports skins, and sharing that pie to franchise teams anyway.
The LEC Is not really the product anymore
The last few years have been characterized by rather passionate national-focused teams. The KOI brand and Kameto have lurked in the background for many years, often partnering with Rogue (at least before dumping that deal), then with Mad Lions, and now forming the brand we know as KOI, capturing a large portion of the Spanish audience.
The likes of Heretics, another popular Spanish org, albeit not as big in LoL as KOI, also help to bring a captured Spanish audience to the scene. Then, the biggest is the French organization Karmine Corp, which has by far the most passionate fans in the EU.
The thing both of these teams have in common is their post-COVID-era popularity. These teams were formed online through personalities and their streaming communities. They got so big, they could afford the esports organization, and are largely the reason why there’s been some incredible local esports events in France and Spain over the last few years.
To piggyback off that success, Riot has enabled Roadshows, as they call them, where the studio goes to venues that KOI and KC host in either France or Spain, and invites teams to play there for the regular week matches, often generating crowds. There are also the KC events that bring over teams like T1, which often attract large audiences too.
Fast forward to this year: while it’s not national-themed, Caedrel and his streaming personalities, as well as acclaimed esports players, have also built huge fanbases. Combining Spanish, French, and English with Los Ratones fans, the LEC Versus set new viewing figures across all three languages. Showing that the product is now about personalities, rather than the LEC’s own product.
Naturally, it seems like you may as well host the LEC online and make it easier for streamers to populate the growing fandom of LoL Esports in Europe, since it’s already doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
Though traditional hype matches often attract, with the likes of the G2 versus KC finale to crown the winner, having a top 5-watched finale in League history.
What the future of the LEC could look like
Hints and rumors suggest the LEC will be online, with Roadshows scattered throughout the year offering live games during important weeks or fixtures, likely the playoffs. It’s a way to get fans back into arenas and cheering for the teams they love. For the most important matches, it could be a big draw for teams. But expect the regular split, which often doesn’t mean much, to still be low and not have live games.
Maybe the LEC can plod along in an online era. Maybe it won’t. The good news is that League NEXT is coming in 2027, the fabled League of Legends 2.0 as some have deemed it. Maybe an incredibly hyped 2.0, the fabled 5 new champs launched at the same time, among other key feature improvements we are yet to learn of. Maybe that could add some crazy levels of excitement to see what pros do with all the new champs, team comps, drafting at once.
Get some interesting results, whether in person or online, and the LEC’s online era may not be that bad at all. Or at least treat the symptoms before the curse of esports decay rears its ugly head again.
As for the product value, I don’t think much will change. We’d probably lose more good interview segments in person with the props. Lord knows we already lost Euphoria. So, expect worse content, but if you care about the games, that, barring some ping issues and likely tech issues, the content itself shouldn’t feel too different.
It would be nice if we returned to a 2012 era of LoL, where online cups meant qualifying to big regionals. But, there’s too much money in franchising, and ending it will only spell disaster for financials in the scene. Maybe if there’s evidence online that the LoL franchise is awful, that open-circuit dream could become a reality. But, it’s a pipe dream with how slow big things like that take.
Maybe the 2030’s can save EU and LoL if you’re of that opinion.
