Riot Games has revealed that the League of Legends Professional League (LPL) will officially look a little different heading into the 2026 season. The Chinese region will no longer feature the signature logo and jersey of FunPlus Phoenix, as the veteran club has departed the LPL after Riot bought back the slot that it holds in the league.
As confirmed in a post on the social media platform Weibo, this is described as a restructuring effort that will optimise and improve the league’s competitiveness in the future.
You might be wondering if these means the slot will be sold to a different organisation, but this doesn’t seem to be on the cards, as rather this is the continued process of the shrinkage of the LPL, which started in 2024 when Rare Atom’s slot was bought back, reducing the LPL size from 17 to 16 teams.
The next question is how many squads the LPL will feature heading into the 2026 season, as Sheep Esports explains that there are reports that Royal Never Give Up’s slot could also be bought back, meaning the LPL might only feature 14 teams next year.
Still, this is a rather massive deal as FPX has been a key member of the LPL since it joined the league in the 2018 season and found varied success since that time.
Photo: Riot Games
