Following rumors that the LEC would stop using the LEC Arena and turn to online matches in 2027, Riot has issued a statement to ensure that the EMEA tournament would keep using the LEC Arena in Berlin in 2027. However, they are “evaluating online play” as well.
On March 18th, LCK analyst and G2 Esports co-streamer Kim “Wadid” Bae-in shared surprising rumors about the LEC.
According to him, all European games might be held online in 2027 with the exception of roadtrips.
This would mean that all regular games currently played from the LEC Arena in Berlin would instead be played remotely.
As the rumor generated strong discussion and mainly negative feedback, Riot put out a statement to quell the topic. EMEA Director Max Schmidt confirmed the following:
This is in addition to roadtrips, which were widely successful in 2025 and are set to continue.
Wadid’s claims went in line with the LEC putting forward measures to cut down operating costs. The tournament has already brought down the number of games in larger venues.
Now, the roadtrips are Riot’s way to reintroduce these at the teams’ expenses, since Karmine Corp and Movistar KOI host them.
In the LEC Spring Split 2026, the Monday matches will take place without a live audience. There as well, Riot’s reasoning was to cut costs.
Monday games attract fewer people but cost as much to produce, and therefore, Riot wants to save on these to reinvest on the bigger events. It can be assumed that weekday games are the first targets they’re looking at when talking about “limited online play”.
Alternatively, they might also have their eyes on reducing studio days for the Summer Split, with it always drawing the lowest viewership.
This might also let the LEC once again run two matches simultaneously like they did in 2017, except with one of the two being online and the other in the studio.
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Featured image source: Wojciech Wandzel / Riot Games
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