Riot has confirmed that League ApS, the tournament organizer behind the NLC, is no longer in a position to operate the league, putting the competition’s immediate future in doubt just before the Spring Split.
Riot said it is now assessing next steps to ensure continuity and stability, with more details promised before the split’s planned start at the end of March.
The NLC, short for the Northern League of Legends Championship, is the official European Regional League for Northern Europe. It sits above the national competitions in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. The next level of competition for the teams from NLC is the EMEA Masters. In 2025, NLC was made popular by Caedrel’s team, Los Ratones, which won the league in all three seasons.
Outside of Los Ratones, the league has always lagged in level and popularity behind other Tier 2 regional leagues, so what are assumed to be monetary issues are not very surprising. Right now, Riot has not said whether the Spring Split will be delayed, whether a new operator will take over immediately, or whether any part of the format will need to change.
League ApS, NLC’s tournament organizer, has informed us that they are no longer in a position to operate the league.
We are actively assessing the situation and aligning on next steps to ensure continuity and stability for the competition. We know that this raises questions, and we are committed to providing clear updates as we move forward.
We will share more details on what this means for the Spring Split and the path ahead before it begins at the end of March. Thank you for your patience and continued support.
Current NLC 2026 Winter champions are Verdant, with Arctic Pandas and DMG Esports being the other two teams that represented the league at EMEA Masters. Verdant won its Champion Round matchup against Greek WLGaming, and now awaits the winner of Los Heretics and Unicorns of Love Sexy Edition in the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals.
It’s unclear what Riot’s options even are in a situation like this, and if there’s a possibility that the parent company itself will take over running the league until a suitable organizer can be found.
