South Korea's World Cup exit leaves Naver's streaming platform Chijijik with a costly hangover

A sign reading "Hong Myung-bo not allowed" is posted outside a restaurant following South Korea's men's national football team's failure to advance to the round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North and Central America. [Cha Min-ju/The Herald Business]

"Five million people tuned in — and now that South Korea is out of the World Cup, there's no reason to watch Chijijik anymore." — A user of Naver's streaming platform Chijijik

South Korea's worst-ever World Cup performance has left domestic streaming platforms Naver Chijijik and Soop nursing an unexpected blow. Both platforms poured large sums into securing online broadcast rights and building out content ecosystems to attract users, only to see the World Cup boost fizzle out as a brief spike.

South Korea's men's national football team, led by director Hong Myung-bo, failed to advance to the round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North and Central America, industry sources said Monday, sending shockwaves through Chijijik and Soop, both of which had staked their growth strategies on the tournament.

Chijijik had secured exclusive domestic online and mobile broadcast rights for the World Cup. Beyond this year's tournament, which runs from June 12 through July 20, the platform locked in online and mobile rights for every World Cup through 2032 as part of a broader push to expand its user base.

Building on those rights, Chijijik also developed a World Cup-focused content ecosystem. Its offerings included co-viewing streams with popular streamers, real-time AI short-form clips and video-on-demand service, World Cup information delivered through AI briefings, a match-prediction event in collaboration with Coca-Cola, and a gaming event in partnership with Nexon.

South Korea men's national football team director Hong Myung-bo announces his resignation at a press conference at Chivas Valle Verde in Zapopan, Mexico, on June 28 (local time), after the team failed to advance to the round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North and Central America. [Yonhap]

Those efforts paid off initially. Chijijik's peak concurrent viewers for live World Cup broadcasts reached about 4.825 million for the Czech Republic match, about 4.78 million for the Mexico match, and about 4.938 million for the South Africa match. The co-viewing content also performed strongly, logging 1,422 participating streamers and 4,707 broadcasts through June 24.

But South Korea's swift elimination rapidly cooled that momentum. With South Korea — by far the most popular draw for domestic viewers — gone from the tournament just two weeks after it began, attracting and retaining users has become significantly harder.

For Naver, the World Cup effect was sorely needed. Industry sources say the company paid hundreds of billions of won to secure the broadcast rights. To recoup that investment, Naver moved to monetize the platform by requiring a Naver Plus membership (4,900 won per month) or a subscription to Chijijik's ad-free product Chitrkey (14,300 won, or about $9, per month) to access matches outside South Korea's games and full high-definition 1080p video.

Rival platform Soop faces a similar predicament. Soop did not directly acquire World Cup broadcast rights, but focused instead on building a World Cup content ecosystem within its platform.

Its main draw was commentary-style "ipchunje" broadcasts led by popular streamers — a format in which streamers narrate match action in real time and interact with viewers without airing official match footage. Soop also ran a content support center during the World Cup to help streamers develop new content.

Son Heung-min, Hwang In-beom and Lee Gi-hyeok celebrate a goal during the Group A opener between South Korea and the Czech Republic at Estadio Guadalajara in Mexico on June 11 (local time) at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North and Central America. [Yonhap]

That strategy generated roughly 300 ipchunje broadcasts across South Korea's three matches on Soop. Popular streamer "Gamst" drew an average peak concurrent viewership of about 80,000 for the Czech Republic and Mexico matches, and hit a high of 120,000 for the South Africa game.

With the World Cup windfall now at risk of amounting to little more than a brief spike, the industry is turning its attention to how both platforms can retain the users they attracted during the tournament.

"Chijijik led with live broadcasts and membership conversions, while Soop leaned on ipchunje and its streamer community — their strategies differed, but both platforms have lost their biggest draw: South Korea's matches," an industry official said. "Defending viewer time through coverage of strong overseas teams, highlights and talk-format content during the remainder of the World Cup will be critical."

chami@heraldcorp.com