Answers, before you have to ask.

Yes. There are no company, school, or age restrictions. If you can put together a roster and a FACEIT team, you can register.

€9.90 per player (roughly €49.50 for a five-player team) per season. Final pricing is confirmed once Season 1 is officially announced.

We collect interest first and money later. Registration is free until we've confirmed the league is actually happening — see the next question.

56 teams (four full divisions of 14) is the hard floor to launch — 70 is the actual goal, but we don't need to hit that to go ahead. If we're still under 56 by the December decision point, Season 1 isn't cancelled — it shifts to the next scheduled slot instead (Season 2's dates, March 22 – May 17, 2027) and starts as soon as the floor is crossed. Because we never collect payment until the league is confirmed, there's no financial risk to registering early either way.

No — registration happens ahead of each season, and divisions are set once the season starts. You can register anytime for the next upcoming season.

Rosters are locked for the season once it begins, with an allowance for substitutes. Full roster-change rules are published in the rulebook ahead of registration.

14 teams per division, split into two groups of 7 for the regular season. The top 4 teams from each group (8 total) advance to the Championship Playoffs, played as double-elimination. The other 6 teams play in the Relegation Group — a single round robin, every match best-of-3 — at the same time, so nobody's season ends after the group stage. Full detail on League Format.

Using a rating system Kanaliiga has refined over 18 seasons of running a real competitive league, plus manual review. We're not publishing the exact formula — that's intentional, it's tuned against real results rather than theory, and publishing it just makes it easier to game. Full detail on the philosophy (not the formula) is on the League Format page.

Two matches a week during the group stage. Once groups wrap up, Championship Playoffs and the Relegation Group both run at one match a week (Championship matches follow the bracket; Relegation Group matches are best-of-3).

Four seasons a year, 9 weeks each (3 weeks of group stage, then 6 weeks of Championship Playoffs / Relegation Group). There's at least a 3-week break between seasons, plus a longer break across June and July. Season 1 runs January 4 – March 1, 2027 — see the Roadmap for the full calendar.

You're not done for the season — you play in the Relegation Group instead: a single round robin against the other 5 teams that didn't make the top 4, every match best-of-3, running at the same time as the Championship Playoffs. It's how we avoid teams paying for a season and then sitting idle for two months.

No — there are no pre-season qualifying or ranking matches. Group and division placement is purely data-driven, using the rating system described above.

We'll tell you before the season starts, not after. If placement review suggests a division will be significantly harder than intended for your team, we reach out with the option to continue anyway or receive a full refund. See League Format for the full policy.

On FACEIT, using your own servers where required by the ruleset. Match scheduling details are published ahead of each season.

No. Northbound is open to teams across the Nordic region and beyond.

English is the primary operating language, with Finnish support in the community and rulebook where needed.

hub.kanaliiga.fi — registration, fixtures, rosters, standings, and payments all live there. This site exists to explain the league, not to run it.