Esports is a riot games: A critical political economic analysis of the closure of the world's first esports TV network in South Korea.
This study examines the evolving power dynamics between OGN, the world's first esports-dedicated TV network, and Riot Games, the developer and publisher of League of Legends, since 2012, with a specific focus on sponsorship and league administration. As esports takes place in a virtual world, it nec...
| Publicado en: | Media, Culture & Society Vol. 48; no. 3; pp. 538 - 556 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Sage Publications, Ltd.
Apr2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=192433833&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 192433833 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 01634437 MCS jtl: Media, Culture & Society issn: 01634437 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Apr2026 vid: 48 iid: 3 pid: 2171 pub: Sage Publications, Ltd. artinfo: ui: 192433833 10.1177/01634437251410048 ppf: 538 ppct: 18 formats: tig: atl: Esports is a riot games: A critical political economic analysis of the closure of the world's first esports TV network in South Korea. aug: au: Jeong, DongWook affil: The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, USA su: South Korea Intellectual property Publishing Video games Political economic analysis Koreans Sportscasters Esports Content delivery networks sug: subj: Intellectual property Publishing Video games South Korea All Other Publishers Other publishers Book Publishers Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers Video game design and development services Video game publishers Doll, Toy, and Game Manufacturing Home entertainment equipment merchant wholesalers Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services Political economic analysis Koreans Sportscasters Esports Content delivery networks keyword: critical political economy esports audiences esports broadcasting esports; gaming League of Legends critical political economy esports audiences esports broadcasting esports; gaming League of Legends ab: This study examines the evolving power dynamics between OGN, the world's first esports-dedicated TV network, and Riot Games, the developer and publisher of League of Legends, since 2012, with a specific focus on sponsorship and league administration. As esports takes place in a virtual world, it necessarily requires mediated delivery platforms, such as broadcasters and streaming platforms. At the same time, game publishers hold exclusive rights to their software, protected as intellectual property (IP). Through the lens of critical political economy, this study analyzes the power relations between the broadcaster and game publisher. The findings indicate a gradual decline in OGN's influence over the South Korean professional League of Legends league (LCK), while Riot Games progressively strengthened its power through streaming technologies and IP ownership. This study highlights the closure of OGN as indicative of the consolidation between global game publishers and media platforms in esports. This consolidation, however, weakened team finances and fan experiences within the esports ecosystem, undermining both economic sustainability and audience engagement. The findings also point to potential tensions between publishers and streaming platforms, suggesting that users may face growing constraints in how they access and experience esports content. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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