NAVER Secures Broadcasting Rights for LCK and World Championship for Five Years
Starting next year, major League of Legends (LoL) leagues and international tournaments will be broadcast on NAVER's streaming platform, Chzzzik. The official LoL professional league stadium in Korea, LoL Park, will be rebranded as "Chzzzik LoL Park."
NAVER announced on December 16 that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Riot Games to this effect.
NAVER announced on the 16th that it has formed a strategic partnership with Riot Games. At LoL Park located in Jongno-gu, Seoul, Jugeonbeom Ju, Leader of NAVER Sports & Entertainment Services (right), and Sangheon Oh, Head of Asia-Pacific Publishing and eSports at Riot Games, are posing for a commemorative photo.
Under this partnership, NAVER will acquire domestic broadcasting rights for major overseas leagues such as League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK, Korea), League of Legends Pro League (LPL, China), and League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC, Europe), as well as for international tournaments including the World Championship (Worlds), Mid-Season Invitational (MSI), and First Stand, for five years through 2030.
The agreement also includes exclusive naming rights for LoL Park and official LCK sponsorship rights. By securing official LCK sponsorship, NAVER plans to develop content utilizing LCK intellectual property (IP) and to promote both online and offline promotional events.
The name of the official LCK stadium located in Jongno-gu, Seoul, "LoL Park," will be changed to "Chzzzik LoL Park." The new name will also be reflected in platform information such as NAVER Maps. Inside the stadium, there will be a Chzzzik-branded seating zone operated by NAVER's streaming platform, as well as a newly established Chzzzik operations booth.
Additionally, for the first time in Korea, a "Viewership Drops" feature will be introduced, allowing users to link their NAVER or Chzzzik accounts with their League of Legends accounts to receive in-game item rewards. Drops are events where viewers can earn specific rewards by watching certain matches for a set amount of time. NAVER also plans to explore ways to create synergy with its major services such as shopping, reservations, and payments in the future.
Previously, Chzzzik secured exclusive Korean-language broadcasting rights for the global eSports tournament "eSports World Cup (EWC)" for three years, from this year through 2027.
Jugeonbeom Ju, Leader of NAVER Sports & Entertainment Services, stated, "We expect this partnership to invigorate the entire eSports ecosystem by combining NAVER's content and community capabilities with global IP. We will continue to expand our user-centric content ecosystem and establish a unique eSports viewing culture exclusive to NAVER."
Sangheon Oh, Head of Asia-Pacific Publishing and eSports at Riot Games, said, "This partnership marks a starting point for NAVER and LCK to systematically enhance the fan experience. We expect that the combination of NAVER's technological and service capabilities with the globally popular eSports league, LCK, will bring meaningful changes to the LCK ecosystem."
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