LCK partners with OP.GG, announces YouTube broadcasts

Esports analytics platform OP.GG has partnered with Riot Games to sponsor the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK).

Founded in 2012, OP.GG’s platform initially began as a League of Legends stats search engine. Over the last decade, the company has expanded to cover VALORANT, PUBG and Overwatch, among others, on its platform and in-game apps.

With the company’s focus on League of Legends and its operations being based in South Korea, OP.GG has a natural synergy with the LCK. The platform joined the likes of Woori Bank, bbq, OMEN by HP, LG UltraGear, LogitechG, Secret Lab, CVG, and Tiffany & Co. as sponsors of the Summer Split 2022.

Exact details — such as how OP.GG will be integrated into the LCK or if there will be any branding opportunities — have not yet been announced.

Alongside the announcement, the LCK also revealed that it would be bolstering its broadcast distribution for the competition. Starting with the LCK Summer Split 2022, games will now be available live on video platform YouTube for certain international broadcasts. In particular, the English broadcast will now be available on both Twitch and YouTube.

OP.GG’s sponsorship of the LCK comes on the heels of the platform’s acquisition of OGN, the first game broadcasting station in the world and a former broadcaster of the LCK.

In the announcement via LinkedIn, OP.GG indicated that it plans to leverage OGN’s production studio and media expertise to create content for gamers beyond its own platform.

The new partnership also continues to highlight the increased value of in-game stat tracking apps to esports entities. Earlier this year, esports media company ONE Esports secured a partnership with analytics platform Mobalytics to collaborate on a range of content pieces.