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League of Legends Worlds 2026 Venues & Host Cities

Sports Writer

Publish Date: 11/10/2026

The League of Legends Worlds tournament has always been hosted in some fantastic venues. From Sweden and Iceland, to Shanghai and Beijing, and of course, in Seoul, there have been some great locations with great arenas for this huge tournament. But, in 2026, Worlds returns to the USA for the first time in ten years, with three major cities being the major locations: LA, Allen, Texas, and New York.

This guide will break down everything you need to know about the venues and cities that the Worlds 2026 will be in. What venues will host each stage, what the venues themselves are like and also how you can go about attending one of these venues if you are interested. Let’s get right into it.

Find the best LoL Worlds 2026 prediction markets

Table of Contents

Worlds 2026 Host Cities and Venues Overview
Los Angeles: Play-In Stage
Allen, Texas: Swiss Stage and Knockout Rounds
Brooklyn, New York
How to Attend Worlds 2026
How to Watch Worlds Remotely
Excellent Choices for World Venues

Worlds 2026 Host Cities and Venues Overview

This year, the Worlds 2026 will be hosted only in the United States. This is the first time in ten years that the tournament will be in the country, with the majority of the tournaments over the last decade taking place in either Asia (South Korea, China) or Europe (UK, Iceland, France). This year, however, the tournament is starting in Los Angeles, and is gradually moving east until it finishes up in New York.

This year, the LOL Worlds will take place in the U.S.

Check out our table below to learn the full details:

Stage	Venue	City	Dates
Play-In	Riot Games Arena	Los Angeles	Oct 15-18th
Swiss	Credit Union of Texas Event Center	Allen, Texas	Oct 23-31st
Quarterfinals	Credit Union of Texas Event Center	Allen, Texas	Nov 3-6th
Semifinals	Credit Union of Texas Event Center	Allen, Texas	Nov 7-8th
Grand Final	Barclays Center	Brooklyn, New York	Nov 14th

Los Angeles: Play-In Stage

The Play-Ins for the Worlds 2026 will take place in the Riot Games Arena, the home arena built by Riot Games themselves, based in the heart of Los Angeles. Currently, the Riot Games Arena can only hold 1,000 people, so it is a modest sized arena for the Play-Ins.

We explain how the Play-Ins work in more detail in our Worlds 2026 Schedule and Format guide, but essentially, the top 15 seeded teams do not compete here. Instead, the remaining lower seeded four teams compete in a double elimination format, to determine which one team joins the remaining 15 in the Swiss stages. Riot Games Arena was not the original plan for this Play-In Stage, but for logistical reasons, Riot had to change the venue to their Los Angeles location. Only one team can advance here as there is only one spot remaining in the Swiss stages, which is decided between 16 teams.

The Riot Games Arena is a fun arena to experience the Play-Ins in, it has a closed off atmosphere that adds to the intensity of the gameplay. Check out our esports prediction market review if you want to see who the market has to win the Play-Ins this year.

The Play-Ins for Worlds 2026 will take place at the Riot Games Arena

Allen, Texas: Swiss Stage and Knockout Rounds

The majority of the tournament will be taking place in the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, because this venue currently hosts the Swiss stages, the quarterfinals and the semifinals. The Event Center currently holds just over 6,200 people, so it is a big step up from the Riot Games Arena, and gives that ‘big-time’ Worlds venue feeling.

Swiss Stage at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center

The Swiss Stage is the most comprehensive part of the Worlds. Essentially, the 16 teams in this round will compete in something called a Swiss play, where essentially, a team needs three wins to advance to the knockout stage, and when a team has three losses, they are eliminated from the competition. Regular games, that are seeded based on tiers, are standard one play games. But, advancement and elimination games are best of three series, with the Fearless Draft rule in place (players cannot reuse champions they used in a previous series game).

The initial seeding of the Swiss games is based off Tiers and performances: there are four tiers, and Tier 1 teams are matched with Tier 4, while Tier 2 teams are matched with Tier 3. Teams are not allowed to face teams they have already faced in a previous round.

Quarterfinals and Semifinals in Allen

The field is eventually narrowed down to eight teams, where the tournament simplifies games again. These eight teams will compete in standard knockout, best of five gameplay, with the winner of each best of five series advancing to the next round. Eventually, the field will be narrowed down to the final two participants over the course of a week, with a several day break between quarterfinal and semifinal games.

You can wager on who you think will make it this far in the best prediction markets, but honestly, the Event Center in Allen is a fantastic place to experience the majority of this tournament.

It’s big, so it has the big event feel, it has the titantron so you can witness the gameplay up close and personal, and the atmosphere makes it feel like a huge event. This part of the Worlds is always the most fun and unpredictable, and the Event Center is a great example of that.

Highest-volume prediction markets for LoL Worlds 2026

Brooklyn, New York

The Grand Finals hosts the biggest arena of all, the infamous Barclays Center, on November 14th. The Barclays Center can currently hold up to 19,000 people, a huge stadium that will hold the most amount of fans to witness the biggest game in the League of Legends Worlds 2026. Here, the gameplay is simple: the top two teams of the Worlds will compete in a standard, best of five championship match, to determine who is the Worlds Champion of 2026.

Another interesting thing to note is that Riot has announced the Worlds Fan Fest will take place in New York as well, at Pier 36 in Lower Manhattan. This Fan Fest will take place from November 12th to 14th, when the semifinals are firmly finished and in the lead up to the Grand Final. This could be a chance to meet the finalists and take part in some panels, after all, we are sure there are some prediction markets you could also wager on here too! Check out our Polymarket review, because if you know anything about this brand, it’s that they offer markets on everything.

The 2026 World Cup final will be held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

How to Attend Worlds 2026

If you are interested in seeing the Worlds 2026 in person, then there are some options available for you to buy some tickets, which are still available for certain events. The best way to check out tickets is by visiting the Riot Games website, and checking out the tickets, through Ticketmaster, for the available events that are available.

Currently, there are still tickets that you can still purchase for both Allen and Brooklyn, with the Play-Ins being sold out due to the smaller capacity of the Riot Games Arena in LA. You can also check out the Fan Fest tickets here, as they are available to purchase on the Riot Games website, and you can even bundle the tickets with tickets to the Grand Final - if you can afford it!

The tickets are quite pricey though, so be prepared to reach into your pocket if you want to experience this live. If you can, though, it’s well worth it: there is nothing like experiencing a major Worlds tournament game live.

Top prediction platforms for LoL Worlds 2026

How to Watch Worlds Remotely

If you simply want to watch the entire tournament from the comfort of your own home, there are plenty of options for you to do that too: without the hefty financial investment. Here are the best places you can check out Worlds 2026:

League of Legends Twitch channel

The official LoL Twitch channel will be providing live streams of the event, completely for free, from the Play-Ins to the Grand Final. This could be the best way to watch the event as it unfolds.

League of Legends YouTube

If you want to catch up on games after they happen, the LoL Youtube channel will be posting some games, in their entirety, on their Youtube channel. So, make sure you are subscribed!

Remember, that prediction markets for most of the events will be open until the event happens. So, check out Polymarket, and our Kalshi review, to see what markets you can purchase into.

Kalshi sees Gen.G as the top favorite at the 2026 LoL Worlds

Excellent Choices for World Venues

The choices this year for the US venues are excellent. The Riot Games Arena is a smaller, modest arena, but it has a great atmosphere to set the tone with the Play Ins. Then, the Event Center in Allen is a great arena with a fantastic atmosphere, to host the majority center. Finally, the Barclays Center fits the gravitas of the Grand Finals: a huge arena that ups the stakes of this year's tournament. These venues are great, and keep tabs here on Strafe.com to keep tabs on the Worlds 2026 as it unfolds.