Disney+ To Livestream Esports Championship
Disney is constantly looking to expand the types of content it offers Disney+ subscribers, and in Korea, Disney+ subscribers are going to be getting the opportunity to watch some of the best video gamers in the world compete in Esports.
It’s been announced that Disney has teamed up with the Korea e-Sports Association (KeSPA) to livestream the Esports Championships Asia Jinju 2026 on Disney+ globally under the ESPN brand. The event is scheduled to take place from April 24th to 26th at the Jinju Indoor Gymnasium in South Gyeongsang.
The three-day tournament will see teams from South Korea, China, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and Mongolia compete across a slate of video game titles, including Street Fighter 6, The King of Fighters XV, Tekken 8, eFootball, PUBG Mobile and Eternal Return.
This isn’t the first time that Disney+ has aired Esports, having previously showcased the 2025 LoL KeSPA Cup, which saw teams from Vietnam, Japan and North America compete against one another.
Disney has been slowly trying to build out its sports coverage globally, with live sports being offered within Disney+ under the ESPN brand across Asia, the Pacific, Latin America and Europe.
There are also plans to livestream more Esports coverage of the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi and Nagoya, Korea, later this year, including the national team send-off ceremony and evaluation matches during the competition.
Kim So-yeon, head of The Walt Disney Company Korea and its direct-to-consumer business, said in a statement regarding the deal:
“Building on strong support from viewers at home and abroad, we are pleased to present a broader range of dynamic esports content on Disney+ this year. We hope this collaboration will help further promote the value of Korean esports globally and contribute to the growth of the industry.”
Roger’s Take: Esports continues to grow in popularity, and while I’d prefer to be playing video games myself rather than watching other people, there’s no denying that Esports has become mainstream enough to see major streaming services looking to take advantage of that. Should this event get enough viewers, perhaps we will start seeing more events like this being broadcast on Disney+. There are plenty of other opportunities to promote its own games on Disney+, such as “Rivals” or “Disney Lorcana”, which have events around the world.
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