Riot Games has revealed the venues and dates for its two major 2026 League of Legends esports (LoL Esports) events, with the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) heading to South Korea and the World Championship final taking place in New York.

According to the announcement, MSI 2026 will run from June 28th to July 12th at Hall 2 of the Daejeon Convention Center (DCC) in Daejeon, South Korea. Meanwhile, the 2026 League of Legends World Championship will conclude on November 14th at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. MSI’s return marks the first time the event has been held in South Korea since 2022, when Busan hosted the international tournament at BEXCO.

MSI 2026 returns to South Korea

A total of 11 teams will compete at MSI 2026. Five regions — the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK), League Championship Series (LCS), League of Legends Championship Pacific (LCP), League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) and League of Legends Pro League (LPL) — will each send two teams, while Brazil’s CBLOL will send one.

The bracket stage will include seven teams: the first-seeded team from each of the six regions, alongside the LPL’s second seed after the region won First Stand. The play-in stage will feature the second seeds from the LCK, LCS, LCP and LEC, with only one team advancing through the double-elimination stage. The play-in stage will take place from June 28th to July 1st, before the bracket stage begins on July 3rd. The grand final is scheduled for July 12th. Daejeon Convention Center is already familiar to Korean League of Legends fans, having previously hosted the 2023 LCK Summer Finals.

Ticket sales for MSI will take place in phases through Interpark. Domestic sales in South Korea will begin on May 21st. A limited number of international tickets requiring a passport will go on sale through a Mastercard presale on April 21st, followed by general sales on April 23rd.

LoL Worlds returns to North America

The 2026 World Championship will mark the event’s return to North America for the first time since 2022. According to the announcement, 19 teams will compete in total, with the LCK, LCS, LCP, LEC and LPL each receiving three slots, while CBLOL will send two teams. The final two places will be decided by MSI results.

The play-in stage will run from October 15th to 18th at the Riot Games Arena in Los Angeles. Riot had previously announced Texas as the play-in location, meaning Los Angeles now replaces the originally planned venue.

Following that, both the Swiss Stage and Knockout Stage will be held at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, north of Dallas. The Swiss Stage will run from October 23rd to 31st, while the quarterfinals will take place from November 3rd to 6th and the semifinals from November 7th to 8th.

The tournament will then conclude at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where the 2026 world champion will be crowned on November 14th. Riot Games said more details on World Championship ticket sales will be announced after mid-July.