Announcement of LEC Roadshows Return for the 2026 Season

The League of Legends European Championship (LEC) has publicised plans for the comeback of its much-loved Roadshows for the 2026 season. Five events have been arranged throughout the year. The LEC has once more joined forces with Movistar KOI and Karmine Corp who are entrusted with the task of selecting the venues.

Following their past success at creating excitement in areas like LEC and LCK, the trend of Roadshows is catching on. The concept is also being embraced in Western esports leagues including LCS, aiming to conduct several events beyond big cities like Los Angeles. This not only helps to increase event days and fan accessibility, but also creates a fine balance with in-studio productions.

Linking with LCS Developments

The news about the LEC Roadshows is related to the announcements made for LCS 2026, where an emphasis has been placed on bringing more competition to several cities. LCS has a blueprint that consists of:

• Hosting more regional events in addition to more show days, while also modifying operations to equally use the FaceOff studio and reduce the number of in-person days at Riot Games Arena.
• The Lock-In tournament scheduled from January 24 to March 1 and featuring Swiss Stage weekends and playoffs. The tournament will commence with opening matchups that include contests between Cloud9 and Team Liquid, Sentinels and Disguised, FlyQuest and Shopify Rebellion, and finally, LYON and Dignitas.
• Team Liquid’s roster which boasts players such as Morgan, Josedeodo, Quid, Yeon, and CoreJJ.

In present times, LCS and LEC are adopting almost identical models across three simplified Splits, thereby making it easier for fans to follow.

The 2026 LoL Esports Calendar

The re-emergence of LEC Roadshows is part of a busy season that kicks off with Winter Splits from January 12 to March 8, including regions like LCK, LPL, LEC, and LCS. Top events include dates for the LCS Lock-In, First Stand with a prize pool of around $1M, MSI 2026 set to take place in Daejeon, South Korea with 11 teams competing for 2 Worlds slots and a cash prize, and the Worlds 2026 commencing in Allen, TX before the main stage in New York City.

Updates have also been made to the regional Winter formats, as seen with the LEC Versus featuring 12 teams, with invites to Los Ratones and Carmine Corp Blue. Teams qualifying for the spring splits, from March 30 to June 21, will be eligible for MSI. Although the LEC Roadshow dates and locations are yet to be announced, the LCS equivalents will be influenced by feedback from fans.