K-League: how to watch the return of live football (and why you should)

South Korean football has a chance to build a global fan base following on from Oscar-winning Parasite and bands such as BTS and Blackpink

Opening game will be broadcast on YouTube and Twitter to football fans starved of action during coronavirus pandemic

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South Korea’s Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Japan’s Yokohama F Marinos in action at the Jeonju World Cup Stadium in the 2020 AFC Champions League. Photo: EPA

Published: 12:59pm, 7 May 2020Updated: 12:58pm, 7 May 2020

The most watched game of football is reported to be the last Fifa World Cup final with more than 1.1 billion tuning in over the 90 minutes, according to Fifa.

Could this record be broken as a world starved of elite football welcomes the game back on Friday?

South Korea’s K-League kicks off on May 8 with a game between champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Suwon Samsung Bluewings, two of the country’s biggest clubs meeting in a game that will be broadcast around the world.

Television deals have been signed amid the desire for a coronavirus-starved football public to see elite football – no disrespect to Taiwan or indeed Belarus, Tajikistan, Burundi, Nicaragua – and the game will also be on Twitter and YouTube.

The K-League is hoping to build off the popularity of South Korea’s film and music exports, including Oscar-winning Parasite and K-pop bands such as BTS and Blackpink, according to Twitter.

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