NLC splits into UK & Ireland and Nordics from 2027 as GameWaves takes over a shortened 2026 Spring

Riot Games have confirmed the future shape of Northern European League of Legends competition. From 2027, the NLC will split into two distinct regional competitions — UK & Ireland on one side, the Nordics on the other. The 2026 season will operate as a transitional year under the existing NLC banner, with GameWaves, the Benelux ERL operator behind Road of Legends, taking over operations in partnership with local tournament organisers.

The Spring Split will run in a shortened format to catch up to the wider ERL calendar. A single round robin BO1 (best-of-one) stage will be followed by a seeded double-elimination playoff bracket featuring the top five teams. The champion qualifies for the EMEA Masters Spring Split. The competition launches on Monday, May 25 at 7 PM CEST on the official NLC Twitch channel. Riot have said more details on the Summer Split will land towards the end of June.

GameWaves, in a statement signed by their founder Floris Buurman, acknowledged community scepticism and said their focus is to "bring back stability". The NLC has already opened a public casting call for Spring broadcast talent, with applications open until the end of the week.

A reset after months of turmoil

The announcement closes a long stretch of uncertainty for the region. The NLC's previous operator, Leagues ApS — the Danish company behind LeaguesGG — informed Riot in March that it was no longer in a position to run the league. The company has since shut down entirely, with all staff let go. Riot was then forced to delay the 2026 Spring Split while it searched for a new tournament organiser.

The collapse came after a 2025 season that was, paradoxically, the most successful in the league's history. NLC Spring 2025 reached more than three million hours watched, propelled largely by the presence of Caedrel's Los Ratones. Leagues ApS leaned into the momentum with large arena events in Nottingham, Copenhagen and Stockholm, an expo area and even a K-pop performance at the Summer Finals. Behind the scenes, the bill did not balance, especially after the exit of Los Ratones from the competitive circuit the following year.

Allegations of late payments started piling up in early 2026. Caster Adam "Eragon" Harney went public in February over five months of unpaid invoices and refused late fees. Other broadcast talent — including Jake "Hiprain" Matthews and Georgia "Troubleinc" Paras, both dropped during a pivot toward a creator-driven format — voiced similar complaints. Stage manager Sam Sugarman publicly contradicted LeaguesGG's claim that it had offered to cover delayed-payment costs. By March, the company stepped away from the league entirely.

What changes from 2027

The structural piece of the announcement is the bigger long-term story. The NLC, originally created in 2020 to bring the UK, Ireland and the Nordics under a single banner, will be split into two competitive tracks from 2027 onwards. Riot's framing is that the decentralised model has proven its value across the ERL ecosystem and that the two halves of the region are now strong enough to crown their own national champions and host their own live events.

Throughout the transition, teams from both regions will continue to compete for spots in the EMEA Masters, preserving the regional pathway players rely on. Riot have framed 2026 as a year for existing NLC teams to adapt to the new model before the split crystallises.