Team Liquid has won the first-ever LTA Cross Conference event, following a relatively dominant performance in the grand finals against 100 Thieves.
Headlined by two North American organisations, the final at the Riot Games Arena in Sao Paulo, Brazil recorded over 160,000 peak viewers, according to data platform Esports Charts.
As a result of Team Liquid’s victory, the organisation has secured its spot at League of Legends’ new international event, First Stand, as the Americas representative.
Despite there being potential for a five-game series, the LTA Cross Conference grand finals concluded after three games. Team Liquid’s 3-0 victory was headlined by the team’s bot laner Sean ‘Yeon’ Sung who recorded an impressive 24/3/26 K/D/A across the series.
However, despite the imposing scoreline, it wasn’t completely plain sailing for the seven-time North American League of Legends champions. Game two saw 100 Thieves have the momentum for the majority of the match, gaining a consistent gold lead until the 20-minute mark. Still, momentum eventually shifted following decisive team fight victories to secure a 35-minute victory.
A similar story followed in the final game of the series, with 100 Thieves once again on the front front in the first 16 minutes. But yet again Team Liquid’s team fighting capabilities were too much to handle for the 2021 LCS Summer Split champions. Team Liquid ended the game in sub-30 minutes, staking its place at First Stand.
LTA’s Viewership Debate
Whilst most of the community is praising Team Liquid’s performance at the competition, especially considering the team only finished fourth in the LTA North, the event’s viewership has been a hot topic of conversation.
Notably, the final of the competition was not the most popular match-up at the LTA Cross Conference, with that accolade going to Cloud9 vs LOUD in the quarterfinals (291,301). Whilst this viewership figure is higher than last year’s LCS Spring 2024 event (246,184), it is lower than Brazil’s CBLOL finals (459,846).
Major format changes in 2025’s League of Legends ecosystem should be taken into account, such as the LTA Cross Conference not featuring MSI spots. However, the new LTA ecosystem now includes both Brazil, North America and the greater LATAM region within its ecosystem, albeit through two separate divisions — LTA South and LTA North.
The LTA Cross Conference finals failed to match the peak viewership of LTA South’s finals between LOUD and Red Canids (234,658), despite the latter being for qualification to the Cross Conference event.
This highlights that Brazil’s early exit from the LTA Cross Conference likely had a significant impact on the competition’s viewership.
The true test of LTA’s viewership will likely be North and South’s second split, with neither division facing the other and both crowning a representative for MSI. This should provide a more detailed look into the popularity of the LTA in comparison to previous CBLOL and LCS splits.