The Korea Professional Football League and Nexon Co., Ltd. are co-hosting the 'eK League Supporters Cup' this summer.
'eK League Supporters Cup' is a special e-sports tournament based on EA SPORTS™ FC Online (hereinafter referred to as 'FC Online'), where K League fans and players form a team. The inaugural event last year recorded a cumulative viewership of 379,178, reflecting high interest and engagement, marking a successful start. This year, there are plans to enhance fan-player interactions with an expanded structure and improved operations.
This year's tournament will feature a total of nine teams, including Daejeon, Suwon FC, Ulsan, Jeonbuk, Jeju, Pohang, along with newly joined Gwangju, Gimcheon, and Daegu, all of which participated last year. Two representatives will be selected through a team representative selection process, and they will compete in a main round as a three-member team, including one active player.
The main round, conducted in three groups, will be held online at each club's clubhouse or home stadium, and all matches will be broadcast live from a separate studio. The top team from each of the three group winners and the one team from the second place will advance to the semifinals.
Starting from the semifinals, heated matchups are scheduled in an offline studio with fans cheering on-site. The total prize money for the tournament has significantly increased from 8 million won last year to 15 million won this year. The winning team will receive a total of 7.5 million won (4.5 million won in prize money + 3 million won in Nexon Cash), the runner-up team will receive a total of 4.5 million won (3 million won in prize money + 1.5 million won in Nexon Cash), and the third-place team will receive a total of 3 million won (1.5 million won in prize money, 1.5 million won in Nexon Cash). Additionally, the winning team will have 3 million won donated in their name to the club's youth team.
The application schedule, detailed regulations, and main round schedule for this tournament will be sequentially announced in June through the K League, FC Online official website, and each club's social media.
Meanwhile, the league and Nexon expect that the 'eK League Supporters Cup' will provide an opportunity to further expand the intersection between K League and e-sports fan demographics, with plans to continuously enhance collaborative marketing and joint projects between the two fields.
[Photo] Provided by the league.
[OSEN]