How League of Legends Calendar is Organized

League of Legends is among the most popular Esports on the market. The game has a massive player base, an even bigger fan base, and some of the top Esports athletes compete in LoL. Its popularity is well deserved, and Riot games, the company behind LoL has done wonders in making the sport as competitive as it could possibly be. Its global appeal cannot be neglected and you could even say that League of Legends is played in all corners of the world. 

Considering its massive reach, it takes some organizational skills to make LoL function on the level it does. That's why the competitions tied to LoL are divided into six global regions. If you're not too familiar with how Esports work, you need to view these competitions as domestic leagues in let's say football. The only difference is that every league of legends league is a regional competition. By playing in regional competitions, the best LoL teams of each region get a chance to compete in a major international League of Legends tournament. Let's start with the region where LoL is the most popular game. 

LCK

LCK is a South Korean professional LoL league. There, the teams compete in League of Legends Champions Korea, or simply, LCK. This league has been around since 2012 and in the current format it features ten teams. As far as League of Legends go, LCK is a top tier league and one of the most successful LoL leagues in the world. Teams from this league have won the World Championship 10 times, and that's the highest number among all active leagues. Between 2013 and 2017 LCK teams won the Worlds five consecutive times. The format of this league is divided into two stages, regular season and LCK Cup. 

A team that manages to win the LCK Cup directly qualifies for the First Stand. As far as the regular season goes, it is played over four rounds, a play-n game, and a single playoff tournament. Top teams at the end of the year get a chance to participate in the Worlds which is the biggest honour in LoL. The top three teams qualify for Worlds, while the top six teams after the first two rounds get a chance to play in the Road to MSI. As far as the schedule goes, the LCK Cup is usually played from January till March, while April till September is reserved for the LCK season. 

LPL

From South Korea we move a tad bit more south, to China. LPL is the top tier of LoL in China, and the league was formed in 2013. The format of LPL is quite different from what we have in South Korea. LPL is divided into 3 splits. The first two splits are reserved for top 14 teams who compete in a single round robin group. All matches in these two splits are played to bets of 3. After two splits, the best teams move to the playoffs, and that's where the fun starts in matches that are played in best of 5 series. 

Each split win brings forth a different set of rewards. A team that wins Split 1 gets a qualification to the First Stand tourney. The winners and the runner up of Split 2 have a go at the Mid-Season Invitational. The top three teams after the Split 3 stage qualify for the World Championship. Split one is on schedule from January till March; Split 2 from April till June; and Split 3 from July till September. 

LEC (EMEA)

LEC is a league that probably covers the most regions among all of the LoL leagues. LEC (EMEA) is a league that encompasses Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In the early stages it was only an European league. Since 2023 LEC includes teams from the Middle East and Africa too, making the league more competitive than ever. Just like LPL it's divided into three splits: Versus, Spring, and Summer. 

A win in the Versus Split earns the winner a place in the Last Stand tourney. Top two teams from the Spring Split get a chance to compete in the Mid-Season Invitational. Also, the winner gets an invitation to the Esports World Cup. When the Summer Split ends, top three teams in the competition have a go at the League of Legends World Championship.LEC Versus is the early year competition running from January till March. During the spring, the Split is on schedule from March till June, with the LEC Summer starting in July and wrapping up in September.

LCS (North America)

LoL is played at the highest level in North America too, under the moniker League of Legends in the United States, Canada and Northern Latin America. This league kicked off in 2013, with one exception being an off year when it was paired with CBLOL and LLA, and went under the name of League of Legends Championship of the Americas (LTA). This one year experiment ended and in 2026 we're back to the format that was ever present from the start. 

Nowadays, LCS has three splits. The first one is called Lock-In, the second is Spring, and the third one is Summer. Each is wrapped up with a double elimination tourney between top teams. Just like in most of the leagues we've mentioned, the winner of the first split gets to play the First Stand tournament, the Spring winner gets a Mid-Season Invitational, while the winner of Summer goes to the LoL World Championship. The winner of the Spying Split also gets a chance to be at the Esports World Cup. LCS Lock-In stage starts in January and wraps up in March. Spring kicks off in April and runs till June, while Summer is on schedule from July till October. 

CBLOL (South America)

Brazil and the rest of South America compete in the CBLOL. This year's format saw eight teams competing through three seasonal splits. Also, there's a CBLOL Cup in schedule too, and the winner of this cup gets to play in the First Stand tourney. The winner of the Split No1 gets to qualify for Mid-Season Invitational, and Esports World Cup, while winners of Split 2 get to compete at the highest level of LoL, Worlds. 

The season in South America starts with the CBLOL Cup which is on schedule from January till March. It continues with Split 1 which is played from March till June the season ends with Split 2 of CBLOL which runs from July until September. 

LCP (Asia-Pacific)

If you thought that we're done with Asia, well, you were wrong. LCP (Asia-Pacific) is League of Legends league reserved for teams from the APAC region and we're talking about Taiwan, Vietnam, Japan and a couple of others. This competition too features a 3-split organizational structure. As you probably can guess by now, the winner of the Split No 1 gets to play at the First Stand. As far as Split 2 goes, both the winner and the runner up are rewarded with appearances at the Mid-Season invitational. The winner and second placed team in Split 3 are invited to play at the World Championship. LCP Split 1 is played from January to March, Split 2 from April till June, with Spit 3 starting in July and ending in August. 

International League of Legends Tournaments

While there's a lot of fun to be had in the regional League of Legends competition, all of us know that the highest competition is seen at the world stage. As explained the winners ,and in some cases runners up of the regional splits get to qualify for the biggest international LoL tournaments. Prestige is higher at these tournaments, and it is followed up with higher monetary rewards. Below you have the biggest LoL international competitions. 

Mid-Season Invitational

As far as the popularity of LoL tournaments go, Mid-Season Invitational is right up there as one of the most popular ones. It has a certain charm to it as it is organized during the midpoint of the season, and it features the best teams in the world after the first two splits of the season. It has been organized since 2015, and after a decade in existence, the 2026 edition of the tournament featured 11 teams. It is a home to all the champions from all the regions who have managed to win their Spring Split. 

This is one of the highest ranked LoL tourneys and all of the matches in the Mid-Season Invitational are played in the best of 5 series. Also, it is played under the rules of Fearless Draft system, meaning that a team cannot use the same champion they have already used in a prior series. At this tournament the teams played in a play-in stage, and a bracket stage, competing for the final prize out of an $2 million prize pool. 

As we write this article, 2026 is an ongoing tournament, as it began on 28th of June, and will have its Grand Final on 12 of July. The tournament so far has brought plenty of surprises, with the biggest one being T1 elimination. They were one of the frontrunners to win this tourney according to most LoL mid season betting predictions. The teams who are left and fight for the honour of being Mid-Season Invitational 2026 champions are Bilibili Gaming and Hanwha Life Esports in the Upper Bracket Final, and G2 Esports and LYON in Lower Bracket Round 3. 

League of Legends World Championship

As far as League of Legends goes, the World Championship is the Esports biggest competition. The popular Worlds is an annual tournament that oversees the world's best LoL teams playing for the trophy popularly called the Summoner’s Cup. This event has been scheduled every year since 2011, and best teams from the world, all of which compete for a massive prize pool that exceeds $5,000,000. The winner goes home with $1 million, showing why this tourney holds so much respect among both the players and the fans. The 2026 edition of the Worlds is scheduled to start on 15th of October, with the Grand Final being scheduled for 14th of November. So far, not all participants are known, meaning that LoL season all over the world is entering its most crucial stage. 

Esports World Cup

Where the best of the best Esports meet. Esports World Cup is an annual home to all athletes from different Esports, which include League of Legends too. LoL teams that qualify for the World Cup are put into a group stage, with the best teams after the groups stage participate in the playoffs. 2026 Esports World Cup features 16 LoL teams competing for a $2 million prize. This year, the fans of League of Legends will not have a chance to rest, as the WC is scheduled to start right after MSI 2026 are wrapped up, with tourney commencing on 15 of July and ending on 19th of July. 

With so many LoL tournaments being scheduled almost simultaneously, and with sports betting getting more and more popular with Esports, it is hard not to wager on some of the matches we have on our schedule. With that in mind, you need to check out these: 

League of Legends Betting Markets

Sports betting and Esports go hand in hand. Considering the number of matches played daily, and the fact that League of Legends is spread all over the world, this global market is ideal for sports betting outlets. Fans are on the same page, and the number of bettors as they wager on eSports grows by the day. Due to the formats of matches and the number of competitions and top teams, LoL is one of the most popular Esports to bet on. Just some of the top betting markets tied to this Esports are: Match winner-twoway, Map handicap, Total maps, Wins at least one map, Correct score, Map winner-twoway, 1st blood, 1st Baron, 1st inhibitor, , Quadra kill, Penta kill, and Odd/even kills among a few others. It's not so different from your regular sports betting.