South Korean Carmaker Kia Backs Korean Esports National Team 

South Korean automotive giant Kia has secured a sponsorship deal with the Korea Esports Association (KeSPA).

Under the deal, Kia will back the Korean esports national team that will participate in the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022, which were delayed to September 2023. Kia’s logo will also feature prominently on the Korean national esports team uniforms. 

Speaking to local media, a Kia spokesperson, added, “As esports is adopted as an official sports event for the first time at the Asian Games, we will make our best efforts to sponsor the Korean national team. Furthermore, the company plans to provide various supports for the growth of the Korean esports industry in the future.”

The carmaker will also create online content produced with the national team and hold social media events with local esports fans during the finals. 

“I am happy to share the historic moment when the Korean national esports team will officially participate in the Asian Games for the first time with Kia. The Korean national team will also try their best to make the country proud at the global sports event,” KeSPA acting President Kim Yong-sam said. 

Kia has been leading various support and marketing activities for the development of esports here and abroad by sponsoring the League of Legends EMEA Championship in Europe, the Middle East and Africa since 2019 and Dplus KIA since 2021. 

According to ASN data, Kia’s  sponsorship investment spend which tends to focus on South Korea and India, has underperformed since Q121, seeing the carmaker dropping in a mere quarterly investment ranging between US$14k to US$111k, far below the US$164k and we hope there will be more deals for the major carmaker soon.