S. Korean football opener viewed by millions on social media

All News 14:14 May 12, 2020

SEOUL, May 12 (Yonhap) -- The opening match of the 2020 South Korean football season last week drew millions of viewers around the world on its social media platforms, the league office said Tuesday.

The Korea Professional Football League (K League) said the K League 1 showdown between Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Suwon Samsung Bluewings on Friday evening was viewed by 3.4 million fans on Twitter and 234,000 more on YouTube.

The league streamed the match, a 1-0 victory for Jeonbuk, live on those two social media accounts.

The 2020 K League 1 season opener between Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Suwon Samsung Bluewings is under way at Jeonju World Cup Stadium in Jeonju, 240 kilometers south of Seoul, on May 8, 2020. (Yonhap)

For 2020, K League matches will be available on television and other digital platforms in 36 countries.

A league official said Tuesday that the opening match was most popular in Turkey, with 18 percent of all Twitter viewers connecting from the country, followed by Brazil (15 percent) and Spain (9 percent).

The opening weekend was also popular among domestic viewers watching streams on portal sites.

According to the league, the first six matches of the season, spread out from Friday to Sunday, had 30,172 simultaneous viewers on average, up nearly 18 percent from a season ago.

The K League season kicked off Friday after more than two months of delay caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Matches will be played without fans until further notice, due to lingering COVID-19 infection concerns.