The Northern League of Legends Championship will transition to two separate regional leagues in 2027 in a major restructuring announced by Riot.
Following NLC’s 2026 Spring and Summer splits, the 2027 restructuring will decouple the ‘UK and Ireland’ from the ‘Nordic countries.’
Recounting Leagues ApS collapse
The news follows the ignominious collapse of Leagues ApS, which had informed Riot Games in March that it was “no longer in a position to operate the league.”
The news had followed months of reports and social media accusations of missed payments to broadcast talent, with the Winter split of the NLC stripping the product of the majority of its established broadcast talent.
The result was a Winter Split that drew significant criticism for its lack of professionalism, combined with a diluted competitive product due to the promotion of co-streamers and ‘Wildcard’ substitute players.
Following the news that Leagues ApS could no longer run the NLC, Riot stated that they were “actively assessing the situation and aligning on next steps to ensure continuity and stability for the competition, adding that they would “share more details on what this means for the Spring Split and the path ahead before it begins at the end of March.”
GameWaves and Riot outline the future of the NLC
In reality, March and April came and passed with no update from Riot, but they evidently did eventually find what they regard as a safe custodian of the NLC.
GameWaves will act as the Tournament Organizer for the NLC Spring and Summer Splits. The TO will operate Road of Legends, the Benelux ERL, and will now take the helm of the NLC alongside regional TOs, which will continue to host domestic competitions.
The news may have come late, but Riot and GameWaves have promised to host an albeit truncated NLC Spring 2026 split, featuring the following teams:
- Verdant
- Bulldog
- Arctic Pandas
- DMG Esports
- LEO
- Deer Gaming
- Lunqvist Lightside
- Ruddy Corporation
The eight teams will compete in a Best of 1 Round-Robin group stage before a five-team double-elimination playoff bracket, with the winner securing an EMEA Masters Spring Split berth.
The NLC Summer 2026 Split is yet to be outlined, but will likely more closely resemble a normal NLC split.
Following the conclusion of the 2026 competitions, the NLC will split into two regional leagues, with the Nordic region and the ‘UK and Ireland’ region becoming distinct regions.
The move separates the two regions for the first time since 2019, when the UK League Championship (UKLC) was consolidated with national leagues in Finland, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden to form the NLC.
As part of the announcement, Riot explained the separation, stating, “With the continued development of the ERL ecosystem, we have seen the increasing benefits of the decentralised model and believe this is the right moment to further the transition and split the region into two competitive tracks: UK & Ireland and the Nordic countries.
“We’re excited about what this unlocks: more opportunities for players through local competitions, the chance to crown National Champions, and live events closer to home for fans across the region.”
Do you think this is the right move for UK, Irish, and Nordic League? Let us know on our Discord!
For more news, see Team Heretics Reunite Nukeduck with Mithy as LEC Head Coach.
Darragh is an Esports Journalist for Insider Gaming specialising in Counter-Strike. He loves to explore how esports teams work, or why they very often do not.
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