League ApS, organizers of the Northern League of Legends Championship (NLC), have told Riot Games they are ‘no longer in a position’ to run it.
This comes just weeks ahead of the NLC Spring 2026 season, and follows a tumultuous period for the league.
Leagues Media, the marketing and organizer arm of League ApS, let some staff go last year as part of its decision to centralise business operations in Copenhagen.
More recently, NLC broadcast talent have been posting on social media about late payments, unpaid invoices, and being dropped, leaving the streams without anyone to call the matches. This led to heavy criticism from the community towards the tournament operators.
Now, Leagues ApS has decided to step down as the operator of the NLC.
Earlier today, Riot published the following statement on the official League of Legends UK, IE & Nordics X account to its 1.2M followers: “League ApS, NLC’s tournament organizer, has informed us that they are no longer in a position to operate the league.
“We are actively assessing the situation and aligning on next steps to ensure continuity and stability for the competition. We know that this raises questions, and we are committed to providing clear updates as we move forward.
“We will share more details on what this means for the Spring Split and the path ahead before it begins at the end of March. Thank you for your patience and continued support.”
The news comes after Los Ratones, the all-star team formed by Caedrel, announced their project was over. They competed in the NLC in 2025, giving the EMEA Regional League its best-ever viewership, climbing to the millions throughout the year.
Some of the long-time NLC broadcast talent, such as host Archarom, have stepped up in an attempt to find and secure another tournament operator.
Archarom said: “Who wants to help and make NLC a proper league? Serious question.
“I’m searching for any TO who would be willing to step in. I don’t have any power, it’s a rough situation since the product is suffering at the moment, but there is potential within it.”
Sami Cunningham, Managing Director of Verdant, a team that competes in the NLC and recently won the NLC 2026 Winter Split, added: “[This news] shouldn’t be a shock for anyone, but it doesn’t help the uncertainty around the NLC going forward.
“It’s a shame that once again the NLC is plagued by instability, and even worse, given that it was all so unavoidable if people were willing to listen and work together.”