The Korea Herald

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AfreecaTV draws LoL fans across globe

Livestreaming platform broadcasts League of Legends Champions Korea

By Kan Hyeong-woo

Published : March 28, 2023 - 17:45

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Lee Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok communicates with fans while livestreaming on AfreecaTV. (AfreecaTV)

South Korean livestreaming platform AfreecaTV is attracting fans of the globally popular esports game League of Legends by providing various ways to connect with their favorite players and teams. LoL boasts over 150 million monthly active players worldwide.

AfreecaTV has signed a contract with the organizers of League of Legends Champions Korea to broadcast its games.

The LCK Spring regular season began in January this year and will continue through April. According to AfreecaTV, the livestreaming platform service provider offers relay streaming sessions in multiple languages for global audiences. For instance, esports team T1 Entertainment & Sports provides real-time English subtitles.

The platform has also signed partnerships with other prestigious global esports teams including DRX, the winner of the 2022 League of Legends World Championship, Gen.G Sports, Liiv Sandbox, Brion, Hanwha Life Esports and Kwangdong Freecs.

AfreecaTV in January launched a page that provides information about LCK teams that have signed streaming partnerships with the online platform. Users can easily watch individual broadcasts of the players and check on their live situations at a glance. It also offers replays for those who miss the live action. There is a weekly schedule posted online to check each team and player’s broadcast schedule as well as the LCK schedule to allow fans to stay tuned.

AfreecaTV said it will release original content between partnered teams and the streaming platform on the LCK page.

Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, T1’s iconic team captain who is considered one of the all-time greats of LoL, broadcasts his gaming performances on AfreecaTV while talking to fans.

According to AfreecaTV, players have been communicating with fans by streaming on AfreecaTV two or three times a week even during the LCK Spring regular season. Fans sharing opinions act like a community can talk about strategies, tips, tricks and the item composition of the players they are watching.

AfreecaTV operates a donation system that allows fans to make financial contributions to their favorite players using virtual balloons. The streaming platform operates balloon sponsorship challenges for fans to donate to players and participate in a lottery where they can win prizes such as dining with their favorite players at the team’s gaming house and signed merchandise.

Hanwha Life Esports announces a streaming partnership with AfreecaTV. (AfreecaTV) Hanwha Life Esports announces a streaming partnership with AfreecaTV. (AfreecaTV)