LoL Esports in 2025: Americas league, three splits, guest teams & new international event with fearless draft

Riot Games has unveiled a comprehensive set of enhancements for the 2025 LoL Esports season, the changes include:

As reported by Sheep Esports in April, Riot Games has confirmed the introduction of a third international tournament starting in 2025. This new event will start the season with regional play, where each of the five regions will qualify a team for the international round of the tournament in March. The international round will feature a round-robin format, where each region plays against every other region in a series of matches. The top four teams from this stage will then advance to a knockout bracket to determine the champion.

Additionally, a Fearless Draft mode will be implemented for best-of series in this tournament. In this mode, champions picked in prior games are banned for the remainder of the series, encouraging more diverse and strategic gameplay. This will be the first major change to the draft format in Tier-1 play in many years.

Riot Games plans to restructure the regional split system, starting with the new international tournament. The season will be divided into three splits: the first split leading to the new international event, the second split determining qualifications for the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI), and a third split culminating in a Regional Championship to crown a single-season champion in each region. This approach is designed to create more cohesive and interconnected splits, raising the stakes for regular-season matches and providing a thrilling lead-up to the World Championship.

In the Americas, Riot will be combining the LCS (North America) and CBLOL (Brazil) into North and South conferences, each maintaining six of their existing partnered teams. Additionally, one team from the Latin America (LLA) region will be integrated based on geographical alignment, and a "Guest Team" slot will be reserved for promotion and relegation through the Tier-2 system. This would result in a total of eight teams per conference. The new Americas league will feature a three-split season, with the following structure:

This structure allows for continual fresh talent infusion and competitive dynamism through the promotion/relegation system. The victorious team from the Promotion/Relegation tournament at the end of each season will earn a slot in the respective conference for the following season.

In the APAC region, a new league will be launched, bringing together top teams from Vietnam, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macao, Japan, Oceania, and Southeast Asia. This league will feature regular inter-regional competitions with diverse matchups and fresh rivalries. Eight teams are planned for the league, which will operate under a hybrid partnership plus promotion/relegation model. The first lineup of guest teams competing in the league will be determined by the results of the 2024 PCS and VCS Summer Split Playoffs. For future seasons, guest teams will have the opportunity to get promoted from their respective domestic leagues.

With the potential reorganization into five regions (Americas, LEC, LCK, LPL, and APAC), Riot Games is reconsidering the allocation of slots for international events. Each region will have one slot at the new event, two slots at MSI, and three slots at Worlds. Additionally, the MSI Champion and the second best-performing region will earn extra slots for Worlds, bringing the total number of teams at the World Championship to 17.

Riot Games acknowledges that these changes involve trade-offs, particularly the reduction in the number of teams within the Tier 1 ecosystem to ensure financial sustainability. This downsizing aims to focus support on fewer teams, increase revenue per team, and enhance the quality of matches by concentrating player talent.

The company believes these enhancements will lead to a more streamlined, exciting, and financially sustainable esports ecosystem. Riot Games also claim to remain committed to monitoring the impact of these changes and making adjustments as needed.