Webedia will no longer organize the Ligue Française de League of Legends (LFL) starting next year, as first reported by Thomas "Zaboutine" Si-Hassen’s podcast this Tuesday, On Refait Le Nash, bringing an end to its eight-year involvement with the competition.
The company has been organizing the league since its inception in 2019, meaning the LFL will now have to find a new organizer ahead of the 2027 season, sources tell Sheep Esports.
Webedia, which also organized the EMEA Masters between 2024 and 2025, was no longer in charge of EMEA’s highest Tier 2 competition in 2026. The online media company is therefore continuing its withdrawal from the esports scene by stepping away from the LFL.
Last December, Webedia’s Head of Esports,
Bertrand Amar, left the company and later co-founded
NEO (New Esports Org.) alongside
Matthieu Dallon, with the company subsequently
taking over the organization of the EMEA Masters and other esports events (EVO Nice, Game Changers, EVA Pro League…)
ERLs in decline
For several years now, the EMEA Tier 2 scene has been experiencing a decline in viewership and overall interest from the League of Legends community. In 2026, the LFL did not host a single in-person event, a first since the league’s early years in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic restricted live gatherings.
The NLC offers another example of the struggles facing the ERL ecosystem. After investing heavily in live events in 2025, the Nordic league underwent major changes in 2026 before Riot announced an interim operating structure, with
GameWaves taking over operations.
In Search of a New Organizer
The LFL will therefore have to find a new tournament organizer for the 2027 season. The Spanish league faced a similar situation earlier this year, eventually being
taken over by LastLap, a group selected by organizations in the league. In France, Neo appears to be a logical candidate to fill the gap, with the organization already running esports tournaments and its co-founder Bertrand Amar having played a key role in the creation of the LFL.
However, nothing has been confirmed yet for the French league, which was already struggling earlier this year following the removal of LFL Division 2, replaced by the Nexus League that didn’t get as much interest, and the creation of the LFL Invitational. The event featured several influencer-led teams created specifically for the occasion, including French Flair, ZYB Esport and Yumeea.
