With the LEC coming to an end with the Grand Finals in Nice, LEC Commissioner Artem Bykov reflected on the 2026 season, discussing on the league’s viewership, its growing reliance on co-streaming and why the LEC Versus won’t return for 2027.
The 2026 season has arguably been one of the LEC’s most ambitious: Riot Games expanded the calendar, brought in Tier 2 teams with LEC Versus and six roadtrips, and changed the Summer Split format to accommodate last year’s feedback.
For the time being, however, not everything will come back next year: the Commissioner confirmed that the LEC Versus won’t return for 2027. The format had created a rare opportunity for Tier 2 teams to compete against the best teams in EMEA, but Riot is now planning to refocus on the LEC and its existing teams.
“LEC Versus was an experiment that showed what a Tier 1 and Tier 2 competition could look like. It paved the way for competitions such as the EWC qualifier,” said Bykov. “We want to let third-party tournament organisers explore the Tier 1 and Tier 2 space.”
The State of the LEC – Lessons and Challenges of 2026
In our chat, Bykov highlighted the expansion of live events as one of the year’s biggest successes, bringing the total number of roadtrips to six if we include the grand final in Nice.
The Summer Split format has also received positive feedback from teams, players and fans, according to Bykov. However, adding more events and broadcast days created its own problems, especially when it came to scheduling. Bykov acknowledged concerns raised during Spring over teams receiving imbalanced match schedules.
“That is one of the areas we want to improve next year,” he said. “We have already discussed it in detail with the pro teams, so we will work more closely with them when scheduling future road trips and splits.”
Viewership was another hot topic for this year. According to Esports Charts, the current summer split’s viewership has gone down by 23% compared to the 2025 edition, a worrying trend if we just look at the number alone.
Bykov, however, emphasized the importance of context when looking at viewership. He explained that the increase of show days, from 66 to 75 in 2026, meant that more matches were spread across the season.
“When you increase the number of matches throughout the year, the spikes matter less, and that affects average viewership,” Bykov explained. “We expected that.”
He also added that the LEC has already surpassed its previous record for hours watched, and at the time of the interview, the two most important matches (lower bracket final and grand final) were yet to take place.
While he’s positive on the trend, the LEC Commissioner confirmed Riot will conduct a deeper analysis once the season ends.
Co-streaming should be a Calculated Risk
Remaining on the topic of viewership, Bykov also acknowledged the increasing dependence on co-streaming. Top creators like Marc “Caedrel” Lamont and Kamel “Kameto” Kebir drive a large chunk of the numbers for English and French-speaking audiences, with taking numbers away from the traditional broadcast.
Bykov acknowledged that dependence, but described co-streaming as a deliberate investment rather than something Riot currently intends to move away from.
“Co-streaming has been a big bet for the LEC over the past few years,” he said. “I think co-streaming has helped our total viewership, although it also brings risks. It is more difficult to manage 50 or 60 channels instead of five,” explaining that the expansion of languages is important to cater to a larger audience.
“There is a degree of dependence on the creators themselves,” he admitted. “At the same time, we see that this is how many fans want to watch and experience the LEC.”
For Riot, that change in viewing habits is part of a wider evolution in esports broadcasting rather than necessarily a problem that needs reversing.
“We have seen a strong desire from fans around the world to experience the LEC through a creator’s lens,” Bykov added. “There are pros and cons to co-streaming, but overall, we are happy with how it is going.”
Riot is redefining the line around player behaviour
With rivalries and the tension built up in different moments of the season, Riot had to take disciplinary action on some occasions, most notably a fine issued to MKOI mid laner Joseph Joon “Jojopyun” Pyun and warnings to Shifters mid laner Ilias “nuc” Bizriken and and Team Heretics support Han “Way” Gil.
The penalties were met with mixed feedback from the community. Bykov acknowledged that determining the boundary is difficult, particularly in a competition covering countries and cultures with different expectations around trash talk.
“It is a fine line to draw, and there are regional and cultural differences,” he said. “We need to ensure that our environment is welcoming, respectful and safe, while still allowing banter and some trash talk between teams.”
He pointed specifically to the LEC’s Madrid event as a learning experience. “We spoke with the pro players and LEC teams, and we saw the feedback from fans. It made us pause, think and reconsider our boundaries around player behaviour.”
Bykov confirmed that they will approach this with a different mindset in the future and that was already partially seen in the way Riot handled nuc at the end of the regular season.
Regardless, finding the perfect balance is a tricky thing and Bykov was aware: “We absolutely need to ensure that the environment remains welcoming and respectful,” he said. “At the same time, we want players to show their passion for the game and the sport, and to create incredible moments.”
What’s changing in 2027? Riot Confirms its No.1 Priority
While the LEC Commissioner didn’t reveal any specific changes aside from the LEC Versus not returning, he hinted at the direction Riot will go in the new season: creating more high-pressure live moments. And to do so, roadtrips will remain “a priority”.
By taking matches outside its Berlin studio, he believes that playing matches in big arenas could also benefit European teams when they reach the international stage.
“The more matches they play on big stages in front of passionate, loud crowds, the better prepared they are,” he added. “That will remain a strategic priority for the LEC.”
