SOOP, a domestic streaming platform struggling as it falls behind Naver's CHZZK, is accelerating efforts to secure esports teams. It is part of a strategy to draw in game fans, increase users, and improve advertising revenue.
As not only esports covering popular game tournaments but also broadcasts of baseball, soccer, golf, and basketball emerge as factors determining preference for online video (OTT) platforms, competition among platforms to secure broadcast rights is growing fierce.
According to the industry on the 9th, SOOP and CHZZK will livestream the League of Legends (LoL) esports official tournament LoL Champions Korea (LCK) Cup starting on the 14th. With Riot Games Korea, the operator of LoL, recently signing partnerships with Naver and SOOP, the LCK Korean livestream will be offered only on SOOP and CHZZK for five years starting this year. As the world's largest video platform, YouTube, is no longer able to carry LCK broadcasts starting this year, the two companies are expected to enjoy a windfall.
Until now, YouTube had taken more than half of LCK livestream viewers, but as those viewers disperse to SOOP and CHZZK this year, both platforms' new users are expected to rise sharply through February, when the LCK Cup is held. To boost viewer inflows even a little more, the two companies are strengthening partnerships with major game teams and stepping up efforts to expand exclusive content.
SOOP signed a live streaming deal early this year with kt Rolster, an esports team that had been under contract with CHZZK through last year. It also signed a three-year deal last month with Dplus Kia, another esports team that had worked with CHZZK. As a result, SOOP has completed streaming partnerships with seven of the 10 teams participating in the LCK regular league, including its in-house team DN Supers and T1 and Gen.G, which include star pro gamer Faker, Lee Sang-hyeok.
CHZZK has signed streaming deals with two esports teams: Nongshim RedForce and OK Savings Bank BRION.
CHZZK and SOOP have competed to fill the void since Twitch Korea, once the powerhouse in game streaming, exited the Korean market at the end of 2023. A domestic streaming industry official said, "Korea's streaming market is already saturated, so it has the character of a zero-sum competition where you have to draw as many viewers as possible from a limited pool." SOOP has pushed its strength in collaborative content with streamers, while CHZZK, operated by Naver, has highlighted synergies with the portal ecosystem to acquire users.
According to app analytics platform Mobile Index, as of last month CHZZK's monthly active users (MAU) totaled 2,867,000, about 500,000 more than SOOP's 2,370,000. Streaming data analysis site Softcon Viewership shows that last year SOOP's average viewers totaled 141,576, ahead of CHZZK's 113,392. While app users favor CHZZK, SOOP holds a slight edge in average viewership.
Beyond esports, both companies are seeking to expand their reach by securing sports broadcast rights and popular streamers. In the streaming industry, whether a platform has exclusive or joint broadcasts of sports with loyal fan bases has emerged as the core competitive edge for driving viewer inflows.
Notably, CHZZK successfully attracted new viewers in their 40s to 60s after acquiring rights last August to broadcast KLPGA and KPGA golf tournaments. At the time, CHZZK's concurrent users rose an average of 26%, and 20% of new users were counted as golf broadcast viewers. Building on that result, CHZZK signed an agreement with the KBO to livestream national baseball team friendlies and secured World Cup and Olympics broadcast rights through 2032.
Major OTT players are also strengthening sports content. Coupang Play has consecutively secured major sports broadcast rights, including the EPL (English Premier League), NBA, F1 (Formula One), and NFL. TVING holds a fixed baseball fan base as viewers through exclusive live broadcasts of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO).
Facing rivals and OTT platforms' aggressive investments in sports broadcast rights, SOOP is focusing on esports content. In the second half of last year, SOOP, together with Devsisters, broadcast the "Cookie Run: OvenBreak World Championship 2025," participating in the entire process from planning to operation and production. Based on that experience, SOOP plans to partner with major game companies to present various intellectual property (IP)-based esports tournaments.
An industry official said, "Sports and esports broadcasts are the most certain way to attract loyal, dedicated fan bases, and they are also positive for securing advertising and sponsorships, so competition is bound to be fierce."