The beautiful game, a.k.a. football (or “soccer” as it is known in a small handful of countries), is arguably the most popular sport in Korea. In a 2021 survey, 25% of Koreans called it their favorite sport, with baseball coming in second at 18.8%. However, on a national league level, baseball is far more popularly followed, drawing in far larger crowds and viewers.

A part of this has to do with the level of performance—Korean baseball has a longer history of international-caliber play, producing early superstars such as Park Chan Ho and Choo Shin-Soo and a Gold Medal by the national team at the 2008 Olympic Games. Of course, Korean footballers are quickly giving their baseball counterparts a run for their money, with the national football team creating history in 2002 by reaching the FIFA World Cup semi-finals, and taking bronze in the 2012 Olympics. And today, international superstar Son Heung-min of the Tottenham Hotspur is one of Korea’s most beloved stars and source of national pride.

Another reason for the disparate following, however, is the contrast in viewing experiences for each sport, which is where Coupang Play’s innovations come in.

Tottenham Hotspur v. Sevilla FC playing in Korea for the Coupang Play Series

Coupang Play, which launched in December 2020, is quickly becoming an essential service for sports fans, livestreaming many sports events such as NFL and NHL games and Premier League matches for a monthly WOW membership fee that is roughly the cost of a cup of coffee (and comes with many other Coupang benefits). 

But Coupang Play isn’t just your typical OTT service—in July last year, Coupang wowed the nation by inviting the Tottenham Hotspur and Sevilla FC to play in Korea for the first ever Coupang Play Series, which included a groundbreaking match between Son Heung-min’s Spurs against Team K League, a team featuring two of the top players from each of the 12 teams in the K League. The exclusive WOW-member event sold out with nearly 110,000 WOW members attending in-person, and 3 million WOW members streaming the event live.

Continuing this innovative streak, Coupang Play is now redefining the domestic football viewing experience for Korean fans with “Coupang Play Picks,” featuring immersive and entertaining coverage being praised as “broadcasting of a level never before seen in Korea.” 

Compared to the typical K League broadcast, Coupang Play Picks employs over double the production staff and nearly twice the number of cameras to provide more immersive and close-up coverage. And while traditional broadcasting stations begin preparing for coverage a month or two before the K League season begins, the Coupang Play Sports team began its preparations for the 2023 season a year ago.

This level of commitment has created a radically different viewing experience for football fans. Traditional K League football broadcasts run for the standard 45 minutes plus stoppage time for each half, with 15 minutes of advertisements during half-time. Meanwhile, Coupang Play includes a preview show an hour before the match, along with a halftime show without any ads for three jam-packed hours of quality sports coverage and entertainment.

The Preview Show is what truly sets Coupang Play Picks apart from other sports broadcasts in Korea. The show features in-depth pre-game interviews with the head coaches and managers of both teams, giving fans insight into their strategies and expectations for the upcoming games. It also features commentary from popular celebrity guests, such as Korean World Cup stars Lee Chun-soo and Lee Eul-yong, child actress Oh Ji-yul of “The Glory” fame, and SNL Korea comedian Jung Sang-hoon.

“It’s a football entertainment show that penetrates the essence of the sport,” said veteran football commentator Han Joon-hee, who recently came on to Coupang Play as an exclusive commentator.

Now, football fans across Korea recognize the Preview Show as a smashing success. But the journey to bring it to life was an uphill battle, notes Coupang Play Picks Producer Ahn, who worked tirelessly in the early stages to convince key football stakeholders that it would work. 

“The Preview Show is a format that has never been tried in Korea. We had to continually coordinate everything in advance and convince club and facility managers see what we were trying to do,” he said. “I was continually being told, ‘We’ve never done things this way.’”

However, Ahn was undeterred. “Our goal is to wow our customers by providing viewing experiences that can only be found on Coupang Play,” he said. “It wasn’t easy to get everyone on board, but now the Preview Show is getting top ratings.”

Meanwhile, the Coupang Play team continues to dive deep and innovate to create more spectacular viewing experiences for WOW members. This summer, for the second of our “Coupang Play Series,” we will be bringing Manchester City and Atletico Madrid to Korea to go head-to-head in what is anticipated to be another unforgettable match for Korean football fans. 

And as always, we will continue striving to create these spectacular experiences at Coupang, in everything from streaming entertainment to online shopping and food delivery, making customers wonder, “How did we ever live without Coupang?”