The LEC Roadtrip will not be the only large Spanish event in the LEC this year. Riot has announced that the Season Finals will also come to Madrid this September, but in a different venue.
During the last weekend of April, Madrid hosted a landmark event for the European League of Legends — the first-ever LEC Roadtrip. The event, organised by Movistar KOI, brought regular-season matches to the Madrid Arena’s large audience. As esports matures, the LEC Roadtrip could signal an exciting shift: making in-person matches part of the everyday experience, not just a rare LAN final.
Movistar KOI, a Spanish team with deep roots in the local esports scene, organised the first-ever edition of the LEC Roadtrip. The team is among the most popular in the entire LEC and is known for its devoted fanbase. KOI hosted G2 Esports, Fnatic, and fellow Spaniards GIANTX for a two-day event featuring regular-season matches played in front of a live audience.
Image: Hara Amorós/Riot Games
Riot’s initial plan was to host two Roadtrips this year, with the second one hosted by the French team Karmine Corp in Évry, just south of Paris. Karmine Corp, arguably the most popular team in the LEC right now with the highest emote sales and engagement, was a natural choice to host the second Roadtrip.
It was just a regular playday, not a playoff or a LAN final, making the event even more interesting and appealing in the big picture. It might be a sign of interesting things to come. Ticket sales, merchandise, and activations reportedly created a significant revenue boost for Movistar KOI.
Firstly, this is Riot’s first decision to do such a thing. Esports is known for having online group stages and qualifiers as well as in-person LAN finals. Still, not many situations exist where a regular match was played in front of a live audience just for the sake of it. It was a smart approach, too. Riot picked some of the most popular brands in the LEC to host games, presumably knowing that the turnout will be significant and the events a success. The company said that around 10,000 in-person viewers came to the two-day event, where the host team created merchandise sales, live gaming sessions, discussions and other activations. Combined with ticket sales, these activities created a new income stream for Movistar KOI while delivering a memorable experience for fans.
According to Esports Charts, three matches from the Roadtrip made it into the top five of the Spring 2025 season. The most popular one was the G2 versus Fnatic match in the Madrid Arena, with around 347,000 peak viewers.
Image: Hara Amorós/Riot Games
Riot did not reinvent the wheel with this event, however. In the United States, the Call of Duty League is the league that Riot Games can look towards the most, with each Major hosted by a team to capitalise on the home ground advantage. Every CDL Major is hosted by a different team, which provides similar merchandise and activation opportunities as the LEC Roadtrip, and the overall idea has proven to be a success, albeit on a smaller scale than in Europe. For example, the last three Majors were hosted by Toronto Ultra in Madrid, Spain, OpTic Texas in Dallas, Texas, and Miami Heretics in Boca Raton, Florida.
The event in Spain (and the French one after it) shows that European spectator culture, which is deeply rooted in sports such as football and basketball, has a way of showing through esports. Football culture has influenced Karmine Corp the most, with its fan club, Le Blue Wall, taking many notes from notable ultras groups in Europe and approaching esports with a similar vigour and intensity as football fans.
The rivalries are another segment of the LEC Roadtrip that is perhaps overlooked. The ones between GIANTX and Movistar KOI and Team Vitality and Karmine Corp serve as anchors for the events. Organising regular playdays where home fans can witness their teams play matches against rivals like GIANTX or G2 Esports creates organic storylines that online-only formats couldn’t achieve.
Image: Hara Amorós/Riot Games
If the LEC Roadtrip continues to succeed, it could present an evolution of the LEC, perhaps with more in-person events and rivalries (such as a Roadtrip in London, showcasing a Fnatic versus G2 match), the league could move more from an online-first event to a more fluid, real-world series. This could bring more team funding and better sponsorship opportunities, especially with non-endemic sponsors relying on foot traffic to sell products or services. It also provides an excellent way for teams to earn more money from tickets, in-person sales and activations, and making each Roadtrip a standalone experience makes for great content and merchandise opportunities.
Let’s hope Riot continues in this direction and that Roadtrip becomes one of the LEC’s key standout features.
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