South Korean channel
OnGameNet
may soon lose its exclusive rights to broadcast the world’s most competitive league for
League of Legends
.
Riot Games’
Korean branch is pushing the channel to split the broadcasting rights for
League
Champions Korea
(LCK) with one of the channel’s biggest competitors, SPOTV, sources close to the broadcaster tell the Daily Dot.
SPOTV is a cable network known for broadcasting the Korean Baseball Organisation, National Basketball Association, and a
StarCraft 2
esports
tournament, the SK Telecom ProLeague. The network has only recently dabbled in
League of Legends
with the recent 2015 LoL KeSPA Cup.
The parties involved will meet tomorrow in South Korea to further discuss the potential deal.
It’s still unclear, of course, if it will go through. But one source says that some OnGameNet staff members have already given up fighting for the rights of the production that they started.
One of the many benefits of OnGameNet’s production of the show, called
Champions,
is the popular English broadcast. The channel has hired three popular shoutcasters?Christopher “
MonteCristo
” Mykles, Erik “
DoA
” Lonnquist, and Christopher “
PapaSmithy
” Smith?for both
Champions
and its other esports broadcasts. Those three would likely not be able to commentate on SPOTV’s broadcast.
If SPOTV’s broadcast doesn’t maintain the same standards as OnGameNet’s, there’s a chance the LCK could see diminishing viewership as a whole?especially if it doesn’t introduce an English broadcast.
OnGameNet has produced Korean
League of Legends
shows since its first invitational for the game in January 2012. The channel began its first broadcast of
Champions
only one month later.
The LCK is one of the most popular leagues for the world’s most popular esport. It features many of the best teams on the planet, including
SK Telecom T1
,
KOO Tigers
,
KT Rolster
,
Samsung Galaxy
, and many others. Its teams have claimed the
League of Legends
World Championship
trophy three years in a row since 2013.
Photo via
Riot Games
/Flickr
Need more esports? Check out Dot Esports on Youtube!
Dot Esports is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission.?
Learn more