February 23 – Korea’s K League is launching a dedicated OTT platform for its top two leagues ahead of the start of the 2021 season that kicks off February 27.
The ‘K LEAGUE TV’ platform will have content in both English and Korean, and will broadcast the 12-team K League 1 and 10-team K League 2 matches live and on-demand to international fans free of charge.
The K League is one of the leading professional leagues in Asia and Ulsan Hyundai are the AFC’s current Champions League title holders and earlier this month competed in the Club World Cup. Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC are the current K League champions, winning their eight title last season.
Alongside the live games the new OTT channel will have exclusive behind the scenes footage, interviews and highlights.
The K League was one of the first leagues to restart in 2020 when the first global lockdown eased, and was quick to capitalise on a football-starved world with new broadcast distribution territories added, including Australia, China and the UK.
The league has continued to add new TV markets and in 2021 will see local broadcast partners in in Macau, Indonesia and the Philippines air live matches and K League TV content.
Yeon Sang CHO, the secretary general of the K League, said: “The past year has seen a lot of changes in consumption of content, and we feel that the time is right to expand our fanbase by this platform that reaches out to a global audience. We have players from all around the world playing, and it’s time that we have fans from around the world able to share in the joy and passion which is the K League.”
The OTT channel will delivered using Sportradar’s broadcast platform.
Dylan Chuan, Sportradar’s Sales Director, Audiovisual, APAC, said: “Expanding their fanbase beyond South Korea has always been a key focus of the K League. Thus, we are excited to take this to the next level by enhancing the fan experience beyond the stadium with K LEAGUE TV. Fans worldwide can now watch their favourite K League club and players compete anytime, anywhere. Our global media experience, with our data-driven insight, sets us apart when working with the K LEAGUE in delivering this to fans globally.”
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