Riot Games has announced the return of Twitch subscriptions for the 2026 League of Legends esports season.
Fans will be able to support their favourite teams by subscribing to selected LoL Esports broadcast channels, gaining access to ad-free viewing and specific Twitch Chat emotes.
Riot Games has yet to be announced which broadcast channels, in particular, will be utilising Twitch subscriptions.
With the return of Twitch subscriptions, Riot also unveiled the return of the “Bring it!” Pengu Garen emote, which will be available again for a limited period to paid or gifted subscribers until January 26th.
After the deadline, fans will instead receive the new “Hmph!” Sona emote, which will be available until March 9th. This is before the start of First Stand, the first global event of the 2026 League of Legends season. Rewards are exclusively available for paid and gifted subscriptions, so Prime subscriptions are ineligible to claim the rewards.
Introduced globally in 2025, LoL Esports Twitch subscriptions are one of the new ways for esports fans to directly support their leagues, with a portion of the revenue generated going to the Global Revenue Pool (GRP) which supports Riot Games’ leagues and teams across the world.
Riot Games Removes Regional Prize Pools
The GRP is the latest business model adopted by Riot Games in the League of Legends ecosystem, with the goal of generating revenues for teams competing in the tier-one region through the digital in-game content and shifting away from the sponsorship revenue.
Introduced in 2024, the business model consisted of 50% of the GRP revenue allocated equally between global tier-one teams, with 35% allocated based on competitive performance. The latter was split into two pools — one for regional league standings and one for international event placements. The remaining 15% was put into ‘Fandom Shares’, rewarding teams with the strongest fanbases.
Earlier last week, Riot Games unveiled a revamped financial structure for this year’s esports season, eliminating regional split prize pools in the GRP. These funds will be redirected into more strategic areas with the goal of supporting the ecosystem’s long-term development. Global events prize pools, however, will continue to be funded by the GRP.
