VKS SeeEl: "Riot didn't give the LCS 3 Worlds spot because they're good. You don’t save the LCS by propping up VC-backed orgs burning cash in LA"

The League of Legends Championship of the Americas (LTA) is dead—long live the LoL Championship Series (LCS) and the Campeonato Brasileiro de League of Legends (CBLOL)! After a year of backlash over the Americas rebrand, Riot Games has decided to reverse course, hoping to restore fan trust by reviving two beloved brands ahead of the 2026 season. Despite this move, many fans—especially in Latin America and Brazil—remain skeptical, notably due to the loss of a potential Worlds spot, even if many details remain up in the air.

In an exclusive interview, Vivo Keyd Stars head coach Christopher "SeeEl" Lee sat down with Sheep Esports to share his thoughts on the upcoming changes and their impact on the region’s future.

Christopher "SeeEl" Lee: "I think it improved overall, mostly because of two things. One is the investment in infrastructure and the player base. Even last year, for example, we saw Malrang (Kim Geun-seong) come in and play in CBLOL. We saw a lot of big names join. This year, we had another investment, but more on staff. Thinkcard (Thomas Slotkin), for example, really helped FURIA to improve—he did a great job. With the LLA merging, there was more capital, so we saw players like Mireu (Jeong Jo-bin) come into our region and have a very good performance. The biggest thing, though, is the greater investment into technical staff. It’s undeniable that CBLOL has improved as a region, but there’s still a long way to go.

The second thing is Riot’s greater investment. They took CBLOL away and put in LTA South, as well as bootcamps. That bootcamp was extremely beneficial. Without the LA bootcamp Riot organized, where we could scrim North American teams, we wouldn’t have been able to win in the LTA South. It was extremely good for the top four teams. You also saw a reinvigoration of coaching staff in the LTA South this year, and that had a really big impact on our team.

SeeEl: It’s a very economical decision. I’m a big fan of CBLOL myself, so I’m happy the brand is back. But for the game to evolve from here, we need to invest more in community and grassroots programs. Brazil is probably one of the most successful regions in terms of user retention and growth, especially in the competitive scene. With more community events and integration at the grassroots level, I could see League of Legends becoming a national esport. Right now, Counter-Strike 2 is closer to that. Overall, I’m really happy about the rebrand, but I also see how much more can be done. I’m excited for the future of esports in general.

SeeEl: I don’t think it’s a wrong decision from Riot’s perspective, because from a business sense it makes sense. But from a customer relations perspective, it’s a really bad decision. You’ve got a region that, from a CPM standpoint, is worth maybe 10% of North America. In the US, CPM is around $9–$16 per thousand clicks. In Brazil it’s 20 cents to a dollar. So yeah, I get it—it’s business.

Where it’s wrong is that, even if the region is not performing well economically, South America has a massive user base and huge growth potential. If Riot doubled down on CBLOL, gave us two Worlds spots, encouraged growth, and made the entire region feel important, the game could’ve exploded even more. How much more can the game grow, not only in Brazil, but in the whole of South America? That's a question they should ask themselves. Instead, they took away a potential international spot. And players don’t care about “business sense.” They care about whether they feel valued. Riot made users feel that they didn’t care about the Brazilian region, whether or not that was the intended message. But they clearly do, and they should. If you’ve got 1.5 million ranked players, why can’t Riot grow it to be 4 million ranked players?

All of this is what the upper management of Riot need to ask themselves, in North America as well. Do they feel like the game's growth in these regions is stalling? Why? Riot looks at hours watched and monthly active users then thinks, “if NA does well internationally, new players will come in.” But it’s never worked. When's the last time North America came close to international success? MSI 2019 when Team Liquid made it to the finals? They’ve poured hundreds of millions into the most overpaid region in the world, trying to attract customers that don't exist, trying to reach a level that is unattainable. Teams burned money until the league became so unsustainable that teams complained and Tier 2 was scrapped, damaging the talent pipeline crucial for future performance.

The real problem is the pipeline, culturally and from a business perspective. The distribution is wrong, the content pipeline is wrong, and there aren’t new creators pulling people into the game. And this comes from a place of love—I fucking love this game. It gave me everything. I started in esports because I coached Marc Merrill in 2018 when I knew nothing about League. That pushed me into ESL, then eventually here. This game made me an entrepreneur. But Riot’s decisions now are really short-sighted.

Giving NA three Worlds spots doesn’t fix anything. Sure, maybe you get more viewers and a bump in players—but how many stick around? What is the retention rate? The strength of League of Legends has always been community - especially in North America. The game is super fun to play with friends. Riot should be investing in grassroots and collegiate programs—set up proper Ivy League leagues with scholarship backing to give real incentives to play.

The reason NA got three Worlds spots is obviously not because they’re good. Look at the LTA results. They did it to “save the region.” But you don’t save it by propping up Venture Capital-backed orgs burning cash in California, one of the most expensive places in the world to operate. You save it by fixing the product and understanding why it’s not good."