The Cross Conference stage of the League of Legends Championship of The Americas (LTA), where the top teams from the North and South Conferences faced off, saw its highest viewership during the quarterfinal match between Cloud9 and LOUD, peaking at 291,114 viewers. This marks an improvement compared to the LTA North’s peak viewership during the first phase of the season, which did not exceed 148,603 viewers. However, it remains well below the highest viewership recorded in the LEC so far (592,717 viewers) and nowhere near the LCK Cup’s peak, which reached 1,907,634 viewers during the BO5 between T1 and HLE, making it the most-watched esports event of the year so far.

A scenario that won't help

Although the Cross Conference stage has only just begun in theory, the North Conference teams swiftly eliminated the four teams from the South Conference in all four quarterfinals. This makes it likely that viewership will drop as early as the semifinals, which now resemble standard LTAN playoffs rather than a true inter-conference showdown.

For reference, only the first seed from the South Conference, Isurus Estral, managed to take a single game off a North Conference team—Team Liquid. However, Team Liquid has not looked as dominant as in 2024, despite fielding an unchanged roster. This further raises questions about the necessity of merging these leagues into the new LTA, given the clear gap in skill levels between the two regions.

As a result, FlyQuest will face 100 Thieves in a best-of-three series for a spot in the Grand Final, while Team Liquid will take on Cloud9 for the second final spot. The winner will secure a place at the season’s first international event, the First Stand, set to take place in South Korea.