The Korea e-Sports Association (KeSPA) announced on May 15 the arrival of Google Play as a new official partner of South Korea's national esports team, in a statement that also reaffirms the entire marketing setup surrounding Team Korea of Esports.
A partnership in the lead-up to the Asian Games
The deal with Google Play is designed to support all of the national team's activities ahead of the Summer Asian Games. The two organizations will roll out marketing campaigns leveraging the national team's intellectual property, including advertising content featuring the players, coordinated by Team Korea. Google Play Points members will also receive specific benefits tied to the national team.
The full partner line-up
With Google Play on board, the official roster now includes: Disney+, Hanwha Life, Goalstudio, Logitech G, Sidiz, Photogray, Levion, the Busan Metropolitan City, and Google Play.
KeSPA also unveiled the campaign's official slogan: "See the Unseen / Our National Team."
The national qualifiers were held at the Busan Esports Arena, which explains the city's presence among the official partners — Busan has been designated as the partner city for the national team.
Disney+, the broadcast partner
The most strategic partnership remains the one struck with Disney+, announced back in April. The broadcaster kicked off its expanded collaboration with KeSPA on April 24-26 at the Esports Championships Asia, pitting the national teams of South Korea, China, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, and Mongolia against one another across titles including Street Fighter 6, The King of Fighters XV, Tekken 8, eFootball, PUBG Mobile, and Eternal Return. The platform will also air the Korean national team's send-off ceremony and evaluation matches, as well as the 2026 LoL KeSPA Cup.
Eyes on Aichi-Nagoya
The whole setup is calibrated for the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, running from September 19 to October 4, 2026, with esports featuring as a full medal sport for only the second time in Asian Games history.
