League of Legends esports celebrated a scintillating weekend of Roadshows, with MKOI and Kiwoon DRX (KRX) holding events in Madrid and Hanoi, Vietnam.
With the emotion of two dedicated crowds behind them, the events served to showcase what League of Legends esports can be, but also highlighted what League esports has lacked in recent years.
Drama on social media and drama on stage in LEC Roadshow
After the conclusion of Los Ratones’ temporary stay in the LEC in LEC Versus, many fans were worried about the outlook for 2026 in the LEC. Looking through the list of matches, the interest in the repetitive matchups has been criticized as stale and uninspiring.
While those criticisms remain, MKOI’s LEC Roadshow has shown that it is not necessarily the matchups but the context surrounding them that might be to blame for a feeling of stagnation, as those same matchups delivered in spades at the three-day event.
As they say in show business, ‘there’s no such thing as bad publicity.’ With the invention of social media, that phrase has only become more pertinent.
MKOI’s roadshow saw the high-profile falling-out of rival org owners Ibai Llanos and Karmine Corp’s Kamel ‘Kameto’ Kebir, following discourse over the weak attendance on the Friday afternoon of the event.
The spat saw Kameto withdraw from playing the Sunday showmatch against Ibai, but the discourse was not limited to X. It had a visceral effect in the arena.
The social media remonstrations helped create what the wrestling business calls ‘heat,’ serving to spice up the already established regional rivalry between Karmine Corp and MKOI.
The result was a highly entertaining and, most importantly, loud competition between the two teams on Saturday evening, with the stakes of national and team pride hanging in the air.
It was Karmine Corp that came up the winners in the contest, with Caliste ‘Caliste’ Henry-Hennebert shushing the crowd, but after the contest, the Frenchman was first to compliment the sound of the arena, giving props to the MKOI crowd.
That will only serve to make Karmine Corp’s LEC Summer Roadshow even more anticipated, as MKOI will look to return the favour by defeating Karmine Corp in the Adidas Arena in Paris.
Sunday’s concluding contest then showed the very best of arena League of Legends, with G2 and MKOI battling out a classic series, rewarding the home crowd’s devotion with a 2-1 victory.
The victory earned MKOI a top-four finish in the groups, but also earned the fans their pride in taking down perennial LEC split winners, G2, with the weekend overall setting up so many storylines for the coming playoffs.
The jubilant MKOI fans were bouncing up and down in the arena as all of their energy was channelled into celebrating their victory and their Upper Bracket start in those playoffs.
However, one sad realisation marred that electric feeling. That instead of lifting a trophy in front of a crowd like this, the playoffs would be held in Riot’s Berlin Studios…
With more Roadshows than ever before, one gets the feeling that the LEC is moving in the right direction in 2026, but one cannot help but dream of a world where these events are the norm for League of Legends esports, where that emotion can be felt all year round, and not in rare exceptions where the teams leave Berlin.
Kiwoon DRX Homefront shows the international potential of the LCK
KRX hosted the LCK’s first Homefront outside of Korea, emulating the departure from South Korea that occurred at the recent LCK Cup Finals, which took place at the Kai Tak Arena in Hong Kong.
The success of the event echoed recent tidings, which indicate that the interest in the LCK outside of Korea is growing at an accelerated rate, with LCK viewership breaking international viewership records.
The LCK enjoyed its strongest viewership in the league’s history, growing 42% by Average Minute Audience (AMA) in 2025 according to Riot Games’ statistics, growing 62% in Vietnam, where KRC held their Roadshow.
That interest is not only translated to more eyeballs, but also more financial gains, as T1’s recent yearly financial report suggests. The org saw its revenue in Asia (excluding Korea) jump by 36.1%.
The Americas and Europe saw even greater growth for League’s most famous org, with the org’s revenue from the regions growing 93.5% and 51.3%, respectively.
Featuring Vietnamese Bot player, Trần ‘LazyFeel’ Bảo Minh, in its academy, Kiwoom DRX’s Homefront event capitalized on that international interest to host a well-attended event in Hanoi.
Facing Gen.G and HLE, the ‘home’ team lost both series of their homefront, managing only one game across the two series.
In spite of that, the event showcased the latent potential in the LCK to tour internationally and make the most of the growing concentration of League fans in its most competitive league.
The strong support for the ‘home team’ also showed the potential for organizations not called T1 to grow an association with a specific market, something other orgs should have in mind as the LCK increasingly looks outside of Korea.
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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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