Riot Games unveils plans to merge LCS, CBLOL and LLA into pan-Americas league

Game developer Riot Games has announced its intention to merge League of Legends’ LCS, CBLOL and LLA to create a new pan-Americas league for 2025.

Riot Games noted that the new proposed model would see the LCS and CBLOL act as North and South conferences. Each conference will include six existing partnered teams, one team from the LLA (Latin America), and one ‘guest team’ spot each for promotion and relegation through to its Tier 2 system. 

As a result, the new system would see a total of eight teams operate in each new Americas conference. 

The new promotion/relegation system would include a tournament at the end of each Americas season where the ‘Guest Teams’ from each conference will face off against the best teams from Tier 2. The victorious teams will earn a slot in the conference for the following season. Details regarding which teams will be Guest Teams for the 2025 season have not been disclosed. 

According to the announcement, Riot Games has begun conversations with the teams around its intention to form multi-region leagues.

Moreover, the new Americas region will also operate under a three-split season, a structure that has been utilised by EMEA’s LEC since 2023. Riot Games has also revealed that at the end of each split, there will be an international event. 

For Split 1, teams will compete within their respective regions with ‘top performers’ and then go on to compete against each other for the 1 available spot. The new international event will have five teams.

For Split 2, the top team from each conference will secure a spot in MSI, guaranteeing LCS and CBLOL conference representation at the event.

The final Split will feature an ‘Americas Regional Championship’ which will determine the three teams that will qualify for Worlds 2025. At least one team from each conference will qualify.

On top of merging the CBLOL, LCS and LLA, Riot has also revealed proposals to merge the APAC esports ecosystem. This will include the Vietnam Championship Series (VCS), Pacific Championship Series (PCS) the League of Legends Japan League (LJL) and the League of Legends Circuit Oceania (LCO).