ECL ’26: Winter Sign-Ups Open – Time for a New Season of European eHockey
The new ECL ’26: Winter season is approaching, and registration is now open for teams and players across Europe. The ECL is the leading European competition played in the EA SPORTS™ NHL franchise, featuring structured divisions for all skill levels.
Since 2015, the European Championship League (ECL) has been the main stage for competitive eHockey in Europe, bringing together players in a 6v6 format where every position on the ice is player-controlled. With divisions suited for all levels—from newcomers to top-tier teams—the ECL continues to offer a structured and competitive environment for everyone looking to test their skills.
This winter marks the start of another competitive chapter in European eHockey. As teams prepare their rosters and strategies, anticipation builds for what’s to come. With registration now open, the new season offers every team a chance to prove themselves on the ice.
The European Championship League (ECL) is Europe’s premier competitive league for organized 6v6 eHockey, played in the EA SPORTS™ NHL franchise.
Featuring multiple divisions from Elite to Neo, as well as a 1v1 competition, the ECL offers players of all skill levels a structured and competitive environment. Every skater and goaltender is fully human-controlled, with all games played in EASHL mode on PlayStation and Xbox.
Established in 2015, the ECL now enters its 21st season with a thriving community of players. The league also features ECL 1v1, introduced in the ECL ’23 Winter season, where Europe’s best solo players compete for the championship.
Basic information/requirements of ECL:
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Regional restrictions: ECL is a European tournament format, however, we do not necessarily exclude players located in North America or Asia. A European server will always be used. We reserve the right to exclude teams or players in case of severe connection issues.
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Individual requirements: Each player needs to have an account at SportsGamer.GG and create their personal player card.
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ECL licenses: Teams in ECL Elite & ECL Pro, ECL Lite, and ECL Core will require their respective ECL ‘26: Winter team licenses in order to play. In addition, every player in the above-mentioned divisions needs to have a valid ECL ‘26: Player License or ECL ‘26: Winter Player License before taking the ice. Players in ECL Neo require only an ECL '26: Winter Neo Player License. You will find more information about the licenses lower in this article.
Teams may also register up to three backup players, who can be used as substitutes during the season. Each backup may appear in a maximum of 10 games combined across both the Winter and Spring seasons, including qualifiers, regular season, and playoffs. All backups must be listed on the team’s official roster before participating in any game.
The ECL '26 Pre-Season tournament does not require the license
- Rules: ECL '26: Winter - Official Rules.
The sign-ups close on the below-mentioned dates:
- ECL '26 Pre-Season: 28.10.2025 (ℹ️ Click to read more)
- Pro Wildcard Battle: 3.11.2025
- ECL Pro Qualifier: 9.11.2025
- ECL Elite: 9.11.2025
- ECL Pro: 9.11.2025
- ECL Lite: 9.11.2025
- ECL Core: 27.11.2025
- ECL Neo: 27.11.2025
* Signups will close at 23:59 CET on the day mentioned unless otherwise specified.
Schedule
This section briefly describes the key dates for the ECL '26: Winter season. For a more detailed breakdown, see the ECL '26: Winter - Information & Key Dates
Qualifiers:
The schedule for the qualifiers will be tight - as usual, to allow the maximum time for sign-ups - so please prepare to play quite intensely during the qualifiers stage.
- Pro Wildcard Battle: 5.11 - 6.11 (if necessary)
- Pro Qualifier starts 11.11
- Elite Qualifier starts: 11.11 (if necessary)
The exact details will be shared once the number of teams participating is known.
Regular Season duration: 30.11 - 15.1
Playoffs duration: 18.1 - 28.2*
* The exact details for the playoffs and division finals will be communicated once the final number of teams per division is known.
Free Agents & Teams Looking for Players
Don't have a team yet? Team looking for additions to your roster?
- If you are a free agent looking to be picked up, please head over here.
- If you are representing a team looking for players, please head over here.
Need more help? Check out the "How to Find a Team or Players for Your Team" article!
Get a feel for the action before the official ECL ’26: Winter season begins!
Our free pre-season tournament lets both new and returning teams test their chemistry, practice under competitive settings, and finalize their rosters ahead of sign-ups. Participation is open to all — no license required. It’s the perfect opportunity to warm up before the ECL ’26: Winter regular season begins!
📅 Pre-Season Tournament Sign-ups are open until 12:00 CET, October 28th
ℹ️ Read more and sign-up for the Pre-Season Tournament
Early Bird Offer on Player and Team Licenses
Below you’ll find the upcoming pricing of the team and player licenses for ECL ‘26, available from November 16th. For the first few days, you will be able to pick up the ECL ‘26: Winter Team license and the ECL ‘26: Player License (Winter + Spring) for the Super Early Bird pricing listed below. After that, we will offer a slightly elevated Early Bird Price from November 20th and finally regular pricing from November 25th onward.
If you're a team looking to use your previous winnings toward a license, please contact support for assistance.
ECL '26 LICENSES WILL BE AVAILABLE FROM NOVEMBER 16, USING THIS LINK
The ECL Neo division does not require a team license; however, ECL Neo players are required to have an active Player license at a cost of 10 EUR per season.
Please refer to this ECL Ranking in order to understand which teams are eligible to sign up for each division.
The ECL prize pool will be determined directly by community participation.
Each season, a share of the collected license-fee income is distributed back to players as prize money across all divisions.
How it works
For the ECL ’26: Winter season, at least 35% of net license-fee income (after VAT and transaction fees) will be paid out as prize money.
The initial prize pool estimate will be published before the start of the season, based on confirmed team and player registrations at that time. If additional licenses are purchased during the season, the final prize pool will be adjusted accordingly and disclosed once all registrations are complete.
Full-year license fees are evenly divided between the Winter and Spring seasons.
Why this structure?
Prize pool shares reflect each division’s competitive level and progression within the ECL structure — ensuring that advancement through the divisions is both meaningful and rewarding.
The distribution between divisions remains consistent with previous ECL seasons.
For more specific information about the division-specific prize pool distribution, please see the ECL '26: Winter - Official Rules or this forum post.
Rule Changes
The updated ECL '26: Winter Official Rules are now available. All team captains are expected to familiarize themselves with the rulebook before the season begins.
Here's a snapshot of some of the major adjustments/additions compared to ECL ‘25: Spring:
- 9.2.3.: Players taking the face-off are strictly forbidden from reverse hitting directly following the face-off
- 11.7.: Banned Player Abilities, Builds & Positional Builds section has been significantly updated
- Some final details, as a closer approximation of the prize pool, will be updated to the rules closer to the start of the season.
Banned Player Abilities, Builds & Positional Builds
You can read about and discuss player abilities and bans here.
Are there some rule-related changes we’ve missed?
Now is your chance to discuss and suggest what type of changes you would like to see in the rulebook.
PLEASE NOTE: ECL '26: WINTER 1v1 SIGNUPS WILL LAUNCH LATER THIS YEAR.
The ECL ’26: Winter season marks the next step in our ongoing commitment to structured, high-quality European eHockey competition.
Whether you’re joining for the first time or returning to defend your title, we look forward to seeing you on the ice this winter.
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