Korean streaming platform SOOP has announced it has officially become a sponsor for the 2025 League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK), and will allow LCK players to co-stream games of the league starting from Rounds 2.
SOOP to allow LCK players to co-stream official matches
Announced on May 14, SOOP will be featured on the LCK through logo placements on broadcasts, content, on-site advertisements, and social media channels. The deal will also see the streaming platform launch a campaign called ‘SOOP Adventure’, in collaboration with T1, showing the main video featuring T1’s Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok on the live LCK broadcasts. The campaign will run for two months, from May 16 to July 18, including an on-site booth activation during the 2025 LCK Road to MSI, held in Busan from June 13 to 15.
SOOP Adventure will allow users to collect ‘e-Soop Stamps’ by completing specific activities and win a series of prizes, which include the ‘Road to Vancouver Ticket’, a prize that provides airfare and accommodation for the upcoming Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) that will take place next month in Vancouver, Canada.
Most importantly, LCK players that are part of the LCK teams that signed exclusive streaming contracts with SOOP will be able to co-stream official matches starting in Rounds 2, continuing the trend seen in other esports leagues and competitions.
The LCK teams that have signed exclusive contracts include T1, GenG, DNF, DRX, BFX, and BRO. This means that top-tier players like Faker, Chovy, Ruler, and many others will be able to interact with fans on their own streaming channels and watch games in real-time.
What does this mean for the LCK and co-streaming in general?
Co-streaming has been a cornerstone of esports viewership in the past years. Ever since its introduction in 2021 on VALORANT competitions, the co-streaming phenomenon has quickly reached other esports titles and has set the standard in League of Legends as well.
Personalities such as Marc ‘Caedrel’ Lamont, Nick ‘LS’ De Cesare, and Christian “IWDominate” Rivera have been offering insights and providing a more immersive viewing experience for hardcore fans compared to traditional broadcasts, and have been able to foster a highly engaged community and ultimately bring a positive influence on viewership numbers post-COVID.
The new co-streaming rights in the LCK will likely serve a similar purpose, especially considering it can be done by the Korean powerhouse T1. The team, which is known for driving a lot of the LCK viewership across the globe, is expected to take the league to new heights, similar to what Caedrel and other esports personalities have done in the Western scene.
One of the few concerns will revolve around the amount of co-streaming done by the LCK players, considering the already busy schedules between streaming and scrim practice, as well as the potential monetization behind such a move. Compared to the Western scene, however, the partnership between SOOP and the LCK should guarantee better aligned interests in shaping the future of co-streaming and the growth of the Korean League.
According to Esports Charts, the LCK 2025 Season has currently hit a peak viewership of 1,577,919 in the match between T1 and Gen.G. With the playoffs matches coming up ahead of MSI, the viewership number is set to get close to the peak record of 2.6 million achieved in LCK 2024 Spring.
