Arch Rival wins WFTDA North America playoffs, advances to Malmö championship

Arch Rival Roller Derby made the weekend in Lansing look less like a tournament and more like a declaration. The All Stars beat Gotham Roller Derby 250-54 in the WFTDA North America Playoffs final to seize the region’s top prize and lock in their place at the 2026 WFTDA Championships in Malmö, Sweden. Gotham survived the pressure long enough to join Arch Rival in the trip to Europe, but Minnesota’s run ended with bronze and no championship berth.

The event ran May 29-31 at the Lansing Center, with Lansing Roller Derby hosting a field that had clear separation at the top. Arch Rival arrived as the No. 1 team in North America Northeast with a 13-0 season record, Gotham came in at No. 3 at 11-4, and Minnesota sat No. 4 at 8-5. The results largely tracked that hierarchy, but the margins still told the story: Arch Rival crushed Black Rose 300-61 in the semifinal, then overwhelmed Gotham in the title game. Gotham earned its place in the final by edging Minnesota 113-106, a narrow win that set up the championship matchup but also exposed how much pressure the No. 3 seed had already absorbed.

Minnesota’s weekend still mattered. After falling to Gotham, the Minnesota Roller Derby All Stars beat Windy City 126-124 in the third-place game, a tight finish that kept the team on the podium. That result came after Minnesota had beaten Detroit 155-111 earlier in the bracket, while Black Rose All-Stars were sent home by Arch Rival’s 300-point offensive burst. The fan-voted postseason awards also landed in the upper tier of the tournament’s most visible performers: Mad Libs of Minnesota Roller Derby was named MVP Blocker, and Ice Hurt of Windy City Rollers took MVP Jammer.

The championship stakes in Michigan were sharpened by the wider WFTDA structure. The 2026 Championships will be held October 15-18 in Malmö, hosted by Crime City Rollers, and WFTDA added a fourth North America tournament in the United States because one North America event is in Canada and the organization wanted to reduce hardship tied to U.S. passport and immigration policies. Michigan sat inside a North America Northeast allocation with three placements available, so every result in Lansing carried direct consequences for who would reach Malmö and who would be left behind.

Lansing’s role also fit the sport’s identity. WFTDA describes Lansing Roller Derby as a skater-run, nonprofit league committed to competitive, inclusive, community-driven derby, and Lansing’s inclusion as a contingency venue allocation underscored the city’s place in postseason planning. Arch Rival left no doubt about the top of the bracket, Gotham held on under intense pressure, and the road to Malmö now runs through a final field that reflects exactly what Lansing settled.