Riot Games has announced that it will be making a series of changes to the European Regional Leagues (ERL) in 2022. Known as a major contributor in the development of the region's top talent, the leagues' structures will be changed to promote stability and strengthen player pathways.
The first major change will see the ERLs classified into one of two categories: Accredited ERLs and Non-Accredited ERLs. The main difference between these categories will mainly be that Accredited ERLs will be expected to continue to host one offline event per year, and that players in Accredited leagues will also be added to Riot Global Contract Database, which is the official list of contracts in any Riot-based league.
As part of these changes, Riot has announced that the Baltic League will be merging into the Polish ERL, and that the Dutch and Belgium leagues will combine to make the Benelux league.
Riot will also be hosting an ERL Summit every year to discuss with all tournament organisers and to discuss how they further develop the ERLs and their own businesses and structures.
We're told that more information surrounding this process will be published after the conclusion of the EU Masters at the end of September.
