LoL Worlds Prize Pool: How Much Is the 2026 Winner Getting?
The 2026 League of Legends World Championship is about to begin and it is one of the game’s most anticipated tournament of the year. With 19 of the best teams battling it out, fans may wonder how large the 2026 Worlds LoL prize pool is.
Being one of the largest esports games, it makes sense that there are multiple League of Legends tournaments throughout the year. Even setting the three international tournaments aside, there are constant domestic leagues, whether it’s the powerful LCK or the popular LEC.
Every team puts it all on the line to qualify for Worlds. Being the largest annual League of Legends tournament, it is no surprise that it also has the most substantial prize pool, with the winners walking away with potentially life-changing money.
How large is the 2026 LoL Worlds prize pool?
The complete 2026 League of Legends World Championship prize pool is a whopping $5 million, which will be divided among all the participating teams.
The League of Legends World Championship pulls in insane numbers, and the multi-million prize pool reflects that. However, this hasn’t always been the case. The prize pool only jumped to $5 million last year, at the 2025 LoL World Championship. Before that, the pool was less than half of what it is now.
Image credit: T1
From 2019 to 2024, the prize pool for this tournament was $2.225 million. While this isn’t a small amount by any means, it doesn’t come close to what teams can potentially win now. Those who have stuck with League of Legends esports for years may remember that the Worlds prize pool was actually more than it is now before 2019.
For example, the prize pool for the 2018 World Championship was an insane $6,450,000. The number was close to $5 million the year before that as well. Looking at the game’s popularity in the esports scene, there’s a good chance that the prize pool won’t dip again as it did in the late 2010s.
How is the 2026 League of Legends Worlds prize pool divided?
The Worlds 2026 winners will unsurprisingly get the biggest chunk of the prize pool and the rest of the money is divided based on how well every professional team performed in the tournament.
The table below highlights how the entire 2026 LoL Worlds prize pool will be divided.
| Place | Winnings (USD) | Percentage of Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | 20% |
| 2 | $800,000 | 16% |
| 3-4 | $400,00 | 8% |
| 5-8 | $300,00 | 6% |
| 9-11 | $175,000 | 3.5% |
| 12-14 | $125,000 | 2.5% |
| 15-16 | $90,000 | 1.8% |
| 17 | $50,000 | 1% |
| 18 | $40,000 | 0.8% |
| 19 | $30,000 | 0.6% |
Despite beating the rest of the 18 teams, the winner of this competition will only get 1/5th of the total prize pool. This shows the tournament’s immense scope, ensuring every participating team gets at least something to go home with.
Naturally, only the team that places first will walk away with this year’s World Championship trophy. T1 has been the one to acquire the trophy the last three years, but there’s a strong chance that may change this time around. Worlds 2026 is expected to be the biggest LoL betting event of the year and some sportsbooks are already offering promos for it.
Feature image credit: LoL Esports
Hannan Mundia is a lifelong gamer. Don’t believe us? Just ask him. But don’t ask how many hours he’s spent playing. He’s been gaming since the age of three, and much of his live revolves around video games and the video game industry. Whether it’s a classic Legend of Zelda game from Nintendo, the newest Bethesda RPG, or something else entirely, you can bet that Hannan is ready and willing to play it.
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