Shaping the Future of Esports: Creating the Americas league, LTA, for Riot Games and the World's Biggest Game: League of Legends.

In 2024, Riot Games launched the League of Legends Championship of The Americas (LTA), a groundbreaking esports league uniting teams from North America, Latin America, and Brazil into a single competitive ecosystem. As the co-creators of LTA’s name, brand strategy, visual identity, and broadcast assets, we played a pivotal role in shaping the future of League of Legends esports in the Americas.

We also developed the brand identities for LTA North and LTA South, creating distinct but connected visuals that reflect the competitive spirit and cultural identity of each region while maintaining consistency under the unified LTA brand.

Balancing Legacy with Innovation: Fans deeply loved the legacy brands, each with immense history and emotional investment. Merging these three leagues into a single, unified entity without alienating loyal audiences required respecting the past while creating a fresh, future-facing identity.

Complex Brand Architecture: Beyond unifying the leagues, we also needed to create distinct yet cohesive identities for LTA North and LTA South. The challenge was to design a system that allowed for regional individuality while maintaining a clear connection to the LTA brand.

High-Stakes Broadcast Experience: The broadcast design had to be visually engaging, easy to follow, and optimized for cross-regional rivalries and multi-language streams. It needed to function flawlessly across Twitch, YouTube, and traditional media, keeping fans engaged worldwide.

Scalable Systems for Global Teams: The solution had to work not only for fans but also for internal and local teams across different regions. We needed to create a scalable system that ensured consistent execution while giving local teams the flexibility to adapt to their audience's needs.

Deep Cultural and Game Understanding: Riot needed a partner who understood the deep heritage of Brazilian and Latin American esports but also knew the complexities of League of Legends. The team had to be fully aligned with Riot’s universe to deliver a solution that felt authentic to the game and the community.

Building LTA’s brand from the ground up.

Strategic Brand Positioning: We defined a clear strategy based on Riot’s goals and fan behaviors across North and South America, ensuring the brand felt premium and competitive. Successful brand positioning = successful results. Our process spans initial research, defining brand voice and communication pillars, conducting interviews with Riot’s internal team, players, and community leaders, and validating through testing and iteration.

Name, Messaging & Tone: League of Legends Championship of The Americas is something that creates the idea of union, coming together, a playfield for the best to shine. The abbreviation LTA is sleek and easy to integrate into LoL ecosystem of tricodes, and was validated through the long trademarking process that is required for a global event.

Brand Strategy & Identity: We developed a distinct brand system for LTA that could flex across regions while staying globally consistent. The core logo, type system, and visual language were designed to feel sharp, edgy and aligned with the eSports language. To reflect regional rivalries and bring energy to the North vs South narrative, we introduced blue for LTA North and fierce red for LTA South, creating instant visual opposition. At the center, gold acted as the unifying accent color — symbolizing prestige, victory, and the premium stature of the championship.

Broadcast & Visual Assets: As a broadcast-first event, we designed streamlined on-air graphics and animations optimized for high-energy storytelling and multi-language streams. Every element was designed for clarity, speed, and impact in a live setting.

Cross-Platform Consistency: We ensured a unified brand experience across Twitch, YouTube, TV, and social media.

Cultural and Competitive Understanding: Our deep knowledge of the game and regional esports culture allowed us to create a brand that feels authentic to both Riot and its global fanbase.

Inspired by the legacy of CBLOL and LCS, LTA’s visual identity blends familiarity with innovation. The logo system reflects this transformation:

• LTA North features a strong, upward arrow, symbolizing ambition and the cool, calculated gameplay of northern teams.
• LTA South carries a downward arrow, embodying the intensity, passion, and fiery spirit of southern competition.
• Together, they integrate into the main LTA emblem, representing a unified esports powerhouse.

Color plays a key role in differentiating each region while maintaining cohesion:

• Gold for LTA → Prestige, excellence, and the highest level of play.
• Blue for North → Rationality and strategy.
• Red for South → Passion and energy.

At the heart of LTA’s identity is Riot Dimension, a custom typeface inspired by the League of Legends universe, reinforcing its connection to the game’s DNA.

From naming and messaging to broadcast and visual identity, we crafted every element of LTA to deliver a powerful, engaging, and unforgettable esports experience—one that unites an entire continent under a single banner.

In its inaugural season, LTA quickly became one of the most-watched League of Legends circuits in the world, achieving:

• Record Viewership: The first split of LTA surpassed 24.9 million hours watched, placing it among the top-performing LoL leagues globally.

• Massive Fan Engagement: With teams like Team Liquid, Cloud9 KIA, and FURIA competing, LTA attracted hundreds of thousands of concurrent viewers per match, with peak viewership exceeding 460,000.

• Brand Recognition & Exposure: The LTA logo and branding assets have been streamed for thousands of hours, establishing an iconic presence across the esports ecosystem.

By crafting a bold, unified brand identity, cohesive messaging, and high-impact broadcast visuals, we helped establish LTA as the premier esports league in the Americas. Our work not only elevated the viewer experience but also strengthened sponsorship value, fan loyalty, and Riot Games’ global brand presence in competitive gaming.

LTA isn’t just a league, it’s a testament to the power of strategic rebranding in esports. And we’re proud to have made it happen.

People involved:

Graphic Designer: Rafael Baranhuk
Motion Designer: Gabriel Ferrari
Head of Production: Luisa Samuel
Head of Operations: Paula Ramos

Strategy: Gabriel Sotobello
Founder and CEO: Renata Amaral Morris
Partner and COO: Gabriel Seibel
Case Study: Estevan Suñé, Rônatan Bica, Lucas Oliveira, Luisa Samuel

Huge thanks to Riot team:

VP of Global Marketing: Dan Sutton
Lead Producer: Sloane DeLancer
Head of League of Legends Esports: Carlos Antunes
Global Head of Technical Production Esports: Derek Woods
Graphic Producer: Anthony Rogers
Animator: An Nguyen