There have been a lot of changes for European League of Legends esports coming in 2023 and there is more to come next season as well. The second division of LoL pro play in Europe is planning to introduce an LEC-style three-split format.
The League of Legends esports season is still in full swing, all the teams are fighting for a playoff spot or promotion in the 2023 Summer Split. Even though we're still quite some time away from this year's Worlds, it seems like Riot Games are already planning ahead.
Last year, they introduced a completely new format and newly organized competitive region. The European region was merged with Africa and the Middle East into EMEA. With that came a new format for the LEC, the region's premier league. Said format seems set to be implemented in the second competitive division in 2024 as well.
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LoL EMEA: New Format For European Regional Leagues
On July 12, 2023, Alejandro Gomis of blix.gg revealed that the EMEA region will see yet another big change coming up next season. According to his sources, the European Regional Leagues will have three instead of just two splits per season.
The European Regional Leagues (ERL) make up the second division of European League of Legends esports. There is for example the La Ligue Française, the Spanish SuperLiga and of course the Prime League, consisting of teams from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
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What this change pretty much means, is that the ERLs will adapt to the current LEC format. As well as the league format changing, there are also talks about reworking the EMEA Masters tournament, which is where the best ERL team meet up twice a season to go up against each other.
Spanish SuperLiga: No More Gaming Houses
This year surely hasn't been too good on esports organizations around the world. The whole industry seems to be going in recession, leagues like the North American LCS struggle not only with viewership but had the players go on strike due to decisions made by Riot Games in the current economic climate.
Now, the governing body of the ERLs has eliminated the requirement for SuperLiga teams to have a gaming house. This decision was made to help the Spanish teams lower their running costs in this difficult economic climate for esports organizations.
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Future of LoL EMEA: Salary Cap in ERL?
According to blix.gg, there are also discussions about implementing a salary cap in the European Regional Leagues. The current consensus seems to be revolving around €200,000 per year in the Spanish Super Liga. The salary cap might be adapted differently in other leagues though, as the cap in the French league might sit a bit higher, if implemented.
Whatever the figure might be for your favorite league, it won't be a cap on just player salaries, more so an "operational maximum" on what a team is allowed to spend over the course of a year. Needless to say, these are some massive changes that need to be discussed between league organizers and the teams.
It's quite hard to say if these changes, especially the "salary cap", will have a positive or negative impact for us, the viewers. Putting a limit on how much a team can spend may narrow the competitive gap, or it could just make it harder for teams to operate economically. We'll stay on the case and see, how it further develops.
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