LCK Finals
Riot Games extends broadcast agreement with MBC through 2027
Riot Games has extended its broadcast agreement with MBC to carry the League of Legends Champions Korea Finals live on South Korean terrestrial television through 2027. The two-year contract covers the 2026 and 2027 Finals, with this year's final taking place on September 13 at the KSPO Dome in Olympic Park in Seoul's Songpa district.
Broadcast Details
MBC has placed the match in the Sunday afternoon slot, and will assemble a commentary team aimed at viewers new to the league. The broadcaster will also trail the event through its sports news bulletins. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, and it is unclear whether MBC pays a rights fee or carries the broadcast on a revenue-sharing or barter basis.
The debut broadcast of the 2025 final drew a modest audience, with a 0.4% nationwide household rating according to Nielsen Korea figures. The rating was higher in certain regions, with Seoul and Daejeon returning 0.7%, the wider capital region 0.5%, and Busan and Gwangju 0.2%. A broadcast executive noted that the rating was low compared to pro baseball's terrestrial ratings, which come in at around 1% to 2%. However, another industry figure said that the result was respectable considering it was esports' first terrestrial broadcast.
Rights and Revenue
The LCK's domestic rights money comes from a separate agreement with Naver and SOOP, who hold exclusive Korean-language live rights to the LCK for five years beginning in 2026. The contract terms were not disclosed, but industry estimates put the combined value at ₩150 billion KRW ($107 million USD). The estimate is not a pure rights fee, as the partnership also gives both platforms Korean-language broadcast rights to Riot's international events and to overseas leagues.
| Platform | Estimated Value |
|---|---|
| Naver | ₩100 billion ($72 million) |
| SOOP | ₩50 billion ($36 million) |
| Total | ₩150 billion ($107 million) |
Audience and Viewership
The LCK's audience is substantially not Korean, with overseas viewing accounting for more than 60% of the total. A terrestrial broadcast addresses only the domestic remainder. The league's audience is also fragmented across different platforms, with Naver, SOOP, and YouTube all carrying live or highlight coverage. The shift to exclusive coverage on Naver and SOOP has removed YouTube from Korean-language live coverage, but YouTube retains highlights and behind-the-scenes content.
The immediate outcome of the extension is that Korea's biggest domestic esports event stays on free national television for two more years. The larger question is whether terrestrial carriage is a genuine audience channel for the LCK or a legitimacy instrument, signaling mainstream sports status to sponsors and regulators. Ahn Hee-nam, head of MBC's sports planning and business team, framed the renewal around audience breadth, saying that the LCK is premium sports content that the whole family can enjoy together. LCK Secretary General Lee Jung-hoon said that the two-year contract created an opportunity for the LCK to reach more fans, and that the league hopes LoL esports becomes more widely known through MBC and resonates with more generations. The extension expires in the same year South Korea hosts the League of Legends World Championship, which is scheduled to run from late October 2027 over roughly a month.
