League of Legends’ Worlds 2026 championship tournament is returning to the U.S., with early stages in L.A. and Allen, Texas, and the finals at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
The Riot Games Arena in L.A. hosts the play-in stage Oct. 15-18. The action then shifts to the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, just north of Dallas. This is where the Swiss Stage (Oct. 23-26 and Oct. 28-31), quarterfinals (Nov. 3-6) and semifinals (Nov. 7-8) take place. Semifinalists then move on to the Grand Final at Barclays Center in Brooklyn for the world championship on Nov. 14. Tickets for all stages go on sale in July.
The 16th Worlds championship will see 19 teams compete. Riot Games worked directly with the Credit Union of Texas Event Center on bringing Worlds to its venues. South Korea’s T1 will be seeking a record fourth straight championship. That squad features Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, the most marketable esports player in the world.
Worlds was last in the U.S. in 2022, with stages in Atlanta and New York and the finals at Chase Center in San Francisco.
Texas is one of the top states for hosting esports in the U.S., with Moody Center in Austin (which hosted a Counter-Strike Major in 2025), San Antonio’s $70M Tech Port Esports and Esports Stadium Arlington all competing for events.
The Credit Union of Texas Event Center hosted the 2025 League of Leagues LTA championship (that’s the American circuit, consisting of the U.S., Latin America, Canada and the Caribbean). The venue also hosted the OpTic Texas Major II Tournament (a Call of Duty League event) in 2025. It started with esports back in 2019 when it was still the Allen Event Center, with the Dallas Fuel hosting the old Overwatch League’s first Homestead Weekend. A CUTEC representative noted that these were the first OWL matches played outside of Blizzard Entertainment’s arena in Burbank, Calif.
Barclays has hosted major esports competitions in the past, with ESL One Dota 2 competitions from 2016-19 and the inaugural OWL finals in 2018.