SOOP's Sports and Entertainment Content Gains Popularity Overseas... "Expanding Global Territory"

Direct Support for Streamers' Global Activities
Expanding Global Content Operations and Partnerships

SOOP is expanding its global content business into regions such as Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Western countries.

On June 17, SOOP announced that it is enhancing local content not only through esports but also through sports and entertainment live streams, and is broadening its international reach via strategic partnerships.

Earlier this year, after integrating Korean and global platforms, SOOP provided multilingual broadcasts of major League of Legends (LoL) leagues and delivered exclusive English and Chinese broadcasts of the Korean national selection event "Road to EWC" held last month. The integrated platform also adopted artificial intelligence (AI) translation subtitles, strengthening real-time communication with overseas viewers who watch streams of top players like Lee Sanghyeok ("Faker") and Han Wangho ("Peanut").

Viewership for non-gaming content overseas is also on the rise. For example, a significant number of viewers from Taiwan tuned in to watch Wang Yancheng’s starting game with the Hanwha Eagles. The cumulative number of viewers for the Samsung Lions game on April 16, when Wang Yancheng took the mound, reached approximately 80,000.

Billiards content is also gaining popularity. SOOP, in partnership with UMB, is broadcasting the 3-Cushion World Cup, attracting a global audience. Billiards streams hosted by Vietnamese streamer Minh Dien draw an average of 20,000 to 30,000 simultaneous viewers during matches featuring Vietnamese players.

In the entertainment sector, the exclusive live broadcast of the "Red Bull Dance Your Style Korea Final" on June 13 recorded a cumulative viewership of about 120,000. Overseas viewers accounted for 70% to 80% of the total. The event’s appeal included the one-on-one freestyle dance battles decided by audience votes—a global format—and the structure where winners advance to the World Final in Zurich, Switzerland, in October.

In Thailand, which serves as SOOP’s hub in Southeast Asia, the company is also operating local content. The "Cross-Regional Overwatch" broadcast on April 28, featuring both Korean and Thai streamers, garnered a cumulative audience of around 80,000. In addition, the Thai broadcaster Workpoint TV’s music variety show "The Wall Song" achieved about 4.6 million cumulative views on SOOP between April and May, thanks to expanded service on the platform. SOOP also announced high expectations for the "Daily News Cup," Thailand’s national high school soccer tournament, which will be broadcast exclusively from the end of this month.

SOOP’s partnership initiatives are also diverse. In Thailand, the company signed an industry-academia cooperation MOU with Dhurakij Pundit University (DPU) last month and is currently running a live streaming experience group with over 1,000 participants. In Vietnam, SOOP is actively operating "OnLive," a live streaming platform jointly established with VTVcab, a subsidiary of national broadcaster VTV. The company recently produced and aired an exclusive Vietnamese feed of the "Road to EWC LoL" in partnership with LCK. The match held on May 25 attracted a cumulative audience of 170,000.

A SOOP representative stated, "We are also supporting streamers’ global activities through offline events," and added, "We plan to gradually expand global content operations and partnerships according to regional user performance and local content demand."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.