The North American Challengers League 2026 Split 1 is a professional League of Legends tournament organized by Riot Games, serving as the premier secondary league in North America. Featuring ten competing teams and a total prize pool of $100,000 USD, the event marks a significant shift in the competitive landscape with the formal implementation of several major format updates. The competition begins with a Regular Season consisting of a single round-robin format where all matches are played as Best-of-3 series. A defining feature of this split is the use of the Fearless Draft system, which restricts champion pools by preventing teams from picking the same champion multiple times within a single series. The top six teams from the regular season standings advance to the Playoffs, which are conducted as a double-elimination bracket. Participating organizations include LCS affiliate challengers such as Team Liquid and FlyQuest, alongside partner teams like Dragonsteel and Maryville University. Beyond the $30,000 first-place prize, the tournament serves as a crucial development platform for rising talent, with the bottom-performing teams at the end of the split being forced to defend their league spots in the upcoming Promotion Tournament.