LoL Esports Schedule 2026 – When does the new season start?

A new year also means the start of the new competitive season: here is everything you need to know about the LoL Esports schedule for 2026, including all starting dates for each of the major leagues.

When does the LoL Esports 2026 season start?

The starting dates for each League of Legends professional league are going to be different, so make sure to mark your calendars for the ones you want to follow. Nonetheless, all of them are set to kick off sometime in January, with Eastern regions usually starting earlier due to their longer schedules. All leagues will finish their respective competitions before mid-March, when the top teams will fly to São Paulo, Brazil, for the first international tournament of the year, First Stand.

LPL Split 1 – TBD

Despite usually being the first competition to start each year, China’s LPL has yet to unveil the starting date for the first split of the 2026 season. The rumored starting date is supposed to be on January 8, but there has still been no official announcement. Nonetheless, expect the LPL to be among the first ones to start, considering the league has the highest number of participating teams.

LCK Cup – January 14

The LCK is usually the second one to start off the, shortly after the start of the LPL. This year, the LCK Cup has been confirmed to start on Wednesday, January 14. The match schedule, however, has yet to be fully announced. 

Before that, the league will have the LCK 2026 Season Opening, which is an invitational event featuring pros from the LCK and will once again serve as the official kickoff for this year’s season. The invitational will have five teams based on the in-game roles, with five players chosen among the 10 partner teams. Among the major news for the competition, the LCK will be one of the first regions to adopt in-game coach comms.

LCP Split 1 – January 16

Similar to the previous year, the LCP will also start the season around mid-month. The league no longer has a kickoff tournament but will have the traditional three-split structure. Together with the LCK, the LCP will also have the comms system implemented for the regular season. Moreover, with the single round robin consisting of best-of-three matches, the LCP will have the side selection for the first game of each series decided by a 2v2 match, marking it a first for competitive League of Legends.

LEC Versus – January 17

Moving over to the LoL Esports schedule for Western regions, the first one to start will be the LEC with its new kickoff tournament, the LEC Versus. Introduced in 2026, the LEC Versus will see the 10 LEC partner teams compete alongside two teams from the tier-two scene, Los Ratones and Karmine Corp Blue.

Teams will first compete in a single round robin of best-of-one matches across four weeks, before moving over to the playoff bracket. As a result, there will be six games played for each match day, starting off with Los Ratones going up against Fnatic.

CBLOL Cup – January 17

Following the return of the CBLOL, the Brazilian league will be starting the new season with the CBLOL Cup, consisting of a regular season, play-in stage, and playoffs. The competition will be among the first to end, with the grand final that will decide the CBLOL representative at First Stand being determined on Saturday, February 28.

LCS Lock-In – January 24

The North American league will be the last to start in the LoL Esports 2026 calendar, with the confirmed starting date on Saturday, January 24. With the introduction of the Swiss stage, the Lock-In tournament’s schedule has yet to be unveiled.