An independent North American LoL concept

The next great League story could be your city.

Ten city teams. One season to prove what local identity can do for players, fans and the wider competitive scene.

Walk the pitch ↓Meet the teams ↗

10city teams

15regular weeks

6playoff teams

Phoenix Sun Runners generated jersey and supporter merch concept

Concept art / Phoenix Sun Runners

Ten sidesone shared scene

Team identities are concepts. Every roster is built for competition.

Why make another league?

01 / THE CASE

Give more people a reason to enter, improve and stay.

More real reps

A season creates structured matches, coaching feedback and game film for players who want to take the next step.

More ways in

Players are the start. Teams also need coaches, analysts, managers, broadcasters, production crews and local hosts.

More reasons to care

A city gives the season a home story. Fans can choose a side, meet each other and follow a roster across weeks.

The first step is finding our people

02 / THE PLAYER

Skill should have a stage.

Before there is a league season, there is a combine. The plan is to invite high Elo players and aspiring esports professionals into one recruitment event, discover the people who will build the teams and the show, then give them a season in which to develop.

First, build the field / 01

The league starts with a combine.

Our first major event is a small-scale combine tournament, inviting high Elo players to apply for a place in a future major independent Tier 2 development league. It is the first step toward building the ten city teams.

Applicants choose the role they want to pursue. Players enter the competitive evaluation pool; coaches, analysts, broadcast talent, production staff and other team personnel apply through the same recruitment drive, with evaluations suited to their work.

Play your way inPlayers on the winning and runner-up rosters automatically qualify for league participation and get to choose the city they will represent through the published city selection process.
Earn an invitationThe remaining players are reviewed across combine games, VOD, communication and team fit, then selected applicants receive invitations to join the league.
Build the whole crewCoaches and staff submit relevant experience or work samples. Casters and production applicants get role-specific auditions, with successful candidates invited into the league build.

The combine needs its own planning and production period. Eligibility, tournament rules, city selection order and role balance will be published before applications open.

Open high Elo applicationsBoth finalist rosters qualifyEvery role has an entry point

The tournament / 10-city pilot

03 / THE CIRCUIT

Every week has a reason to tune in.

We want the development value of a full double round robin, delivered at a pace players and fans can stay with. Two main broadcast blocks plus a rotating Feature Night complete the 90-series season in 15 weeks, compared with 18 weeks when every team plays one series each week.

01 / Competitive depth

Meet. Learn. Meet again.

Every team faces each opponent twice in Bo3s. That second meeting tests adaptation and gives players a longer record of coached team competition and online broadcast experience.

02 / A deliberate pace

More momentum each week.

Six series per week move the season forward faster than a five-series weekly slate. Each team has three weeks with a second series, alongside twelve weeks with one series.

03 / A signature broadcast

Make Feature Night matter.

A dedicated two-match show gives four teams the spotlight, room for deeper player stories and a different broadcast feel. The rotation brings every city into that signature slot equally.

10teams

90regular-season Bo3s

18series per team

15weeks at 6 series

Broadcast block one

Main slate A

Two Bo3s
Four teams play once

Broadcast block two

Main slate B

Two Bo3s
Four teams play once

Signature night

Feature night

Two Bo3s
Two teams open; two teams return

Two Bo3s put four teams on the main broadcast. Each plays its first series of the week; the calendar rotates which of these teams later returns on Feature Night.

Every team / 12 single-series weeks · 3 double-series weeks · 6 Feature Nights

The master calendar cycles the main-slate and Feature Night assignments while preserving two meetings against every opponent. No city gets extra series or extra Feature Night exposure. Actual match days and the season window remain to be decided.

6qualify for a double-elimination playoff

Bo5every playoff series builds toward a real finish

1grand final. No reset.

Pick your side

04 / THE CITIES

A local identity.
An open roster.

The city gives the team a name and a place to gather. Players can come from anywhere. The first ten markets are a creative starting slate, not a claim that we have measured city-by-city player supply.

Los Angeles / California01 / 10

Afterimage

A mark that stays with you after the game ends.

*Cleveland Ironclads is a provisional name. Virginia and Michigan are the first expansion candidates raised in planning.

A city can host more than one kind of game night

05 / THE COMMUNITY

Make the local scene a meeting place.

Our plan is to recruit a dedicated local host in each team city. That host will organize watch parties for our league and LCS matches throughout the year, giving fans a consistent place to enjoy high-level League of Legends and build connections across the scene.

A named role in every city

One local host. A community that keeps coming back.

The local host owns the event calendar, venue relationships and on-site experience, with support from league operations and the city team. This is an organized part of the league plan, with an accountable person building continuity from one gathering to the next.

Home crowd / our competition

Show up for your city.

The local host plans viewing nights around the city team’s matches, coordinates the venue and match presentation, and brings fans into the team’s story. Player appearances and community activities can deepen that connection as the program develops.

Local venueTeam identityRepeat gathering

Community night / LCS

Root for the whole scene.

The same host schedules LCS watch parties throughout the year. Established LCS fans, developing players and new viewers share a room, follow top North American competition and stay connected between our own league’s seasons.

Watch togetherTalk LeagueFollow the scene

A regular local gathering gives players, coaches, casters and organizers somewhere to build roots, meet collaborators and put faces to names. As those relationships grow, emerging talent has more chances to show its work and be discovered.

Both would be independently organized community events. Any LCS watch-party use of game footage, Riot marks, sponsors or promotion must follow Riot’s current community competition and event rules. No official partnership is implied.

The season is a story engine

06 / THE CONTENT

Capture the climb, not just the trophy.

Our content plan starts before the first league match: a dedicated travelling documentary crew will follow the work of creating the league, city by city and person by person. The audience gets to meet the people building it while the competition is still taking shape.

The series will document finding the players, staging the combine, recruiting and developing broadcast talent, building coaches and teams, finding local hosts and setting up the systems that connect all of them. A dedicated field and editing crew will capture the travel, interviews and key moments, supported by remote access to practice and development.

01 / Before opening day

Document the build.

Release episodes and shorter profiles around recruitment, the combine and the people creating each city team.

02 / During preparation

Follow the development.

Show early scrims, coaching, broadcast rehearsals, local host preparations and the work behind the competition.

03 / When the league is ready

Bring the story live.

Lead the audience into the official league broadcast with familiar players and rivalries, then continue the documentary alongside the season.

The documentary builds the audience before the season; the broadcast gives those stories a competitive payoff. Episodes, social cuts, player features and live segments become one connected content pipeline.

Before the season / finding our people

Who gets the call?

Our crew will follow the recruitment drive: high Elo applicants, the combine tournament, coach interviews and broadcast auditions. Episodes introduce the people chasing a place and the team building the selection process.

Applicant profilesCombine episodesTalent auditions

Content participation should be clear and consent-based. Scouting, co-streaming and use of game footage depend on partner access and current rights.

A platform for partners to show up locally

07 / THE PARTNERS

One league. Ten ways to belong.

The value is a connected set of moments: competition, city stories, creator content and real gatherings. Packages should fit the audience and the rules, not just add logos.

A shared engine / local upside

08 / THE BUSINESS

Teams should help build the league that backs them.

Local wins can feed a stronger shared pool.

Build three revenue lines that can support one another: tournament operations, a media and production arm, and the league with its city teams. The legal structure can follow once the economics are designed.

Central sales

One partner reaches all ten teams.

League sponsorship, broadcast inventory, memberships and league merchandise can support a shared operating base.

Keep competition runningLeague operations

Invest in the showProduction & content

Give the title meaningPrize pool

Build city sidesTeam budgets

Teams earn locally

Local sponsors, team merch and watch-party relationships give each city a reason to build its own community.

Shared contribution

Set a clear, pre-season contribution from team-generated revenue to the league and prize pool.

One transparent ledger

Publish the agreed rules for team retention, shared operations and prize funding. Report the season result.

Open design choice: no percentages or lifetime profit-sharing terms are set. Define who qualifies, what the split covers, when money pays out and who controls the budget before anyone makes a promise. Services revenue and central sponsorship can expand the shared base without assuming a team has already made a profit.

Grow when the evidence says go

09 / THE ROADMAP

Start online. Earn the next step.

Make the first season a real test of player supply, audience habits, partner demand and operating cost. Add travel and physical infrastructure only when the model can support it.

01 / Foundation

Rights & rules

Confirm event classification, publish competition and participant rules, line up the people and production to deliver.

02 / First season

Recruit & compete

Open the combine, build ten rosters and run the online double round robin through a six-team playoff.

03 / Local proof

Gather in person

Test watch parties and a selected live final with local venues and partners before making travel routine.

04 / Long view

Build a home

Team houses, roadshows and home/away play become options only with stable revenue, partners and safeguards.

Next cities raised in planning: Virginia and Michigan. Add markets when opt-in demand and local operating partners support them.

Independent by design

10 / THE BOUNDARY

A stronger scene needs clear lines.

This league is designed to add opportunities alongside the LCS and NACL. It does not change either league, claim official Tier 2 status or promise a direct promotion route.

Before the first announcement

Ask Riot to confirm the event category and organizer eligibility.
Clear use of League of Legends names, game footage, marks, API and competitive data.
Confirm sponsor categories, entry fees, prizes and watch-party rules.
Publish independent status and participant conduct, eligibility and dispute rules.

What we can build on our side

More structured competition and development experience.
City-specific stories that fans can follow and share.
Local gatherings around our matches and LCS games.
More roles in coaching, content, events and production.

Independent competition.
Connected community.The goal is to help the North American scene feel bigger and more welcoming. Any formal partnership remains a future conversation.

Reference points: LCS 2026 address · NACL 2026 update · Riot Community Competition Guidelines · Riot API policy.

The next move / pressure-test the idea

Help us build a season people can feel.

We’re looking for honest feedback on the format, people who can help navigate Riot’s rules, and partners who want to explore what a city-based League community could become.

Back to the beginning ↑

Questions for the room

What could this unlock for players and the wider scene?

What risks are we underestimating?

Who should help us validate rules, production, local events and sponsor fit?

Would you advise, introduce, host, build or partner?