Disney+ is deepening its push into live esports. The streamer said Thursday that it has expanded an existing partnership with the Korea eSports Association (KeSPA) to livestream a wider slate of major Korean and pan-Asian esports competitions for its global subscribers.
The expanded deal begins April 24-26 with the Esports Championships Asia Jinju 2026, a three-day tournament in Jinju, South Korea, that pits national teams from South Korea, China, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and Mongolia against one another across a slate of fighting and simulation titles, including Street Fighter 6, The King of Fighters XV, Tekken 8, Konami’s eFootball series, PUBG Mobile and Eternal Return. Disney+ will carry the competition live worldwide, with onscreen branding from ESPN running across the broadcast.
The Jinju event is effectively a high-stakes warmup for the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026, set for September 19 to October 4 in Japan, where esports will feature as a full medal sport for only the second time in Asian Games history. The Aichi-Nagoya program has expanded to 11 medal events across 13 titles — up from seven at Hangzhou 2022. National teams in the region have started treating these regional warm-up tournaments with the seriousness once reserved for traditional Olympic sports.
Disney+ will also exclusively livestream the Korean national team’s official send-off ceremony and evaluation matches ahead of the Games, as well as the 2026 LoL KeSPA Cup later this year.
Korea remains the center of gravity for global esports. The country’s League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) is widely regarded as one of the top professional leagues in the world, and the government-backed KeSPA is among the most established esports federations anywhere.
Disney+ is also currently streaming round-by-round replays of the 2025 LoL KeSPA Cup, which featured 10 LCK teams facing off against star squads from Vietnam and Japan, along with two teams from the North American League Championship Series.
The expanded KeSPA pact is part of a broader strategic push by Disney+ to lock down select live sports rights across the Asia-Pacific, following the 2025 launch of ESPN on Disney+ in Australia and New Zealand. Late last year, the company struck a multi-year deal with the NBA to bring basketball coverage to Disney+ subscribers in the Philippines for the first time. The company has also been boosting its scripted Korean slate as of late.
Netflix has been aggressively pursuing a similar sports and live events strategy to grow its footprint in Asia’s still-maturing streaming markets — most recently with its exclusive Japan broadcast of the 2026 World Baseball Classic, which concluded last month and smashed the company’s local viewership records.
