English broadcast announced for KeSPA Cup
League of Legends fans from all over the globe can breathe easy knowing KeSPA Cup will, after all, have an English stream available, despite having announced later last week, there won't be an English broadcast of the prestigious South Korean tournament.
Earlier this Friday, a heart-breaking announcement surfaced, claiming there will be no English broadcast for the upcoming 2019 KeSPA Cup, which left English-speaking League of Legends fans dishearten, as they would not get an opportunity to tune into one of the biggest LoL tournaments of the year and experience it in its full glory.
While some were hoping to see an English re-stream of the event on YouTube and other streaming platforms, English casters came out to say that they were barred from re-streaming KeSPA Cup from their home, meaning English-speaking fans were left in dark as they soon came to realise there might not be any other option than to watch KeSPA Cup with Korean and Chinese casters.
Shortly after the announcement, T1 CEO Joe Marsh took a stance and urged KeSPA organizers to find a solution in order to cater to the global audience, which represented a major part of KeSPA Cup's viewership over last four instalments of the event.
Joe Marsh even announced T1 and Gen.G were prepared to cover the cost for an English broadcast, giving the community hope, KeSPA organizers just might rethink their decision and allow for the global audience to tune into the tournament.
While Korea e-Sports Association gave no response on the matter that day, a huge announcement surfaced this Sunday on KeSPA's official Twitter page, where they unveiled that English streaming service for KeSPA Cup 2019 is back on and it will be available on KeSPA's YouTube channel.
https://twitter.com/KeSPAen/status/1208722716838121477
As revealed the English broadcast will be led by Nick "LS" De Cesare, former League of Legends analyst and coach, who is currently an English caster for LCK, Brendan "Valdes" Valdes and Max "Atlus" Anderson, who was the original bearer of bad news.
Joining them will be a special guest star Seth "Achilios" King, who is a professional esports caster, who has experience in casting League of Legends, Overwatch and PUBG.
Joe Marsh, who was the main advocate for the English broadcast responded to the announcement, stating he is excited KeSPA decided to come around and allow for the tournament to have an English stream. He went on to thank the community and the team of casters who made it all possible, as they showed to the world League of Legends is a global esports and that LCK has fans not only in Asian regions but all over the globe.
"With each region becoming more and more global, it's important that we support all languages that want to support LCK, LPL and all regions," said Joe Marsh.
"LCK has the chance to be the Premier League of LoL globally if we can develop the player talent and global fanbase around the world. Only way to do that is to ensure fans can have access to the show," added Arnold Hur, the Chief Operating Officer at Gen.G, who played a pivotal role in turning an English stream into reality.
KeSPA Cup 2019 is set to kick off this Monday, December 23, at 5:00 pm Korean Standard Time and conclude on Sunday, January 5, with the grand finals, where top two Korean LoL teams will duke it out for ₩40,000,000 (US $34,500) and the prestigious KeSPA Cup.
