After the LTA: How the LCS and CBLOL Rebuilt the Americas in 2026

On September 28, 2025, during the grand final of the only season it would ever play, Riot announced that the LTA was finished. The League of Legends Championship of The Americas had merged North America's LCS, Brazil's CBLOL and Latin America's LLA into a single league. After one year, the LCS and CBLOL were coming back.

2026 was the first year of that reset. Here is why the LTA was created, why it ended so quickly and what the revived leagues looked like this season.

The one-year league, and why it ended

Riot announced the merger on June 11, 2024, and the LTA was formally launched on October 31, 2024, with 16 teams. It had two conferences: North, based on the LCS and played in Los Angeles, and South, based on the CBLOL in São Paulo. Each conference had six partner teams from the old leagues, one team from the LLA and one guest team that had to requalify through promotion and relegation.

The 2025 season produced champions, but not much love. Team Liquid won Split 1 and went to First Stand. In Split 2, no overall champion was crowned: FlyQuest won the North and FURIA the South. FlyQuest won the only LTA Championship, beating Brazil's Vivo Keyd Stars in the grand final.

Fans criticised the formats from the start, and the competitive gap between the stronger North and the South was hard to ignore. When Riot ended the experiment on September 28, 2025, it said the LCS and CBLOL would return as separate leagues for 2026. The LLA's teams did not simply disappear: LYON, which had come into the LTA North from the LLA, stayed on as an LCS partner.

The new LCS

The 2026 LCS has eight teams: Cloud9 KIA, LYON, Team Liquid Alienware, FlyQuest, Sentinels, Shopify Rebellion, Disguised and Dignitas. Disguised earned its place through a promotion tournament and made its LCS debut, finishing seventh in both Spring and Summer.

The season had three parts:

• Lock-In (January 24 to March 1), back for the first time since 2022: won by LYON, beating Cloud9 KIA in the final, with Inspired as MVP. LYON took the LCS's place at First Stand.
• Spring (April 4 to June 14): won by LYON again, beating Team Liquid Alienware in a final at Mullett Arena in Tempe, Arizona, with Saint as MVP.
• Summer (July 25 to October 4): won by Team Liquid Alienware over LYON in the LCS Championship at Gas South Arena near Atlanta.

LYON also took the league on the road, hosting a Homegrounds event in Mexico City on August 29 and 30.

CBLOL comes home

Brazil's CBLOL also has eight teams: Los Grandes, RED Canids Kalunga, FURIA, LOUD, Vivo Keyd Stars, paiN Gaming, Fluxo W7M and Leviatán. Its season ran in three parts too. LOUD won the CBLOL Cup on March 1 and went to First Stand. FURIA won Split 1 on June 6 and a place at MSI, with Tatu as MVP. Los Grandes, promoted from the Circuito Desafiante to replace Isurus, won Split 2, with its final held at Carioca Arena 1 in Rio de Janeiro on October 10.

There was controversy along the way. Brazil was first given only one Worlds place, which fans called unfair after the region's results in the LTA. Isurus withdrew from the league on December 4, 2025, and on March 22, 2026, Riot announced that the CBLOL would get a second Worlds slot, saying the change was about the timing of slot allocation, not the criticism.

The Americas at Worlds 2026

Five teams from the Americas went to Worlds. Los Grandes, Team Liquid Alienware and LYON went straight to the Swiss stage; Cloud9 KIA and FURIA started in the Play-In and finished 19th and 18th. LYON was the region's standout, beating Los Grandes in a final-round Swiss decider to reach the quarterfinals, where Gen.G swept it 3-0. Los Grandes, at its first Worlds, finished 2-3.

Why it matters

The LTA was an attempt to solve a money problem by making the Americas one big market. Splitting again is an admission that fans care more about their own league. The early signs are encouraging: LYON's MSI and Worlds runs and Los Grandes' rise in Brazil gave both leagues stories that the LTA never had. For the bigger picture of where the money in League esports comes from, read our LCK franchising explainer.