[Edaily Reporter Lee So-hyun] As the North and Central American World Cup kicked off, a race for “special benefits” began. While past World Cups were merely battles for viewership ratings, with the diversification of viewer consumption patterns, online platforms have joined the fray, staking their survival on a “lock-in competition” to keep users within their own ecosystems.

According to the IT industry on the 14th, watching World Cup matches is being used as a gateway to drive traffic across the entire online platform ecosystem, leading to membership sign-ups and participation in games.

The most prominent example is "Chijichik," the streaming platform operated by Naver (#NAVER), which holds the exclusive online broadcasting rights for the World Cup. According to Naver, the first group stage match between South Korea and the Czech Republic on the 12th recorded a peak of 4.82 million concurrent viewers, combining Chijichik’s dedicated World Cup channel with “watch-together” broadcasts by popular streamers. This figure is more than 6.3 times higher than the all-time peak concurrent viewership (760,000) achieved during the “2025 League of Legends (LoL) World Championship” held last November.

In particular, approximately 360,000 users flocked to the “Watch Together” broadcast by popular streamer “Han Dong-sook” alone, generating excitement rivaling that of the official broadcast. Subsequently, an average of around 50,000 viewers consistently tuned in to other group stage matches, such as the Brazil vs. Morocco game, even when the South Korean national team was not playing. This demonstrates that Chizichik’s unique community-based viewing culture—where users communicate in real-time with their favorite streamers and fellow fans while cheering together—is spreading across mainstream sports content.

Chizichik also received high marks for its infrastructure capabilities. A Naver official emphasized, “Even amid massive traffic surges, Chizichik effectively distributed server load to maintain a stable viewing environment free of buffering.”

The World Cup effect was also evident in the broadcasting industry. Amid the reconstruction of a joint terrestrial broadcasting front following the controversy over universal viewing rights surrounding the exclusive broadcast of the Winter Olympics, KBS led in viewership ratings for the South Korean national team’s first match. According to Nielsen Korea, KBS 2TV recorded a national viewership rating of 8.5% for the South Korea-Czech Republic match, outperforming JTBC (5.7%). Considering that the match aired during the weekday morning hours, this result is seen as proof that World Cup content still holds significant appeal.

Industry interest extends beyond mere viewer numbers. Securing massive traffic directly translates to advertising success and significant marketing impact. At the same time, it serves as a testing ground for “monetization experiments” aimed at offsetting the astronomical burden of sports broadcasting rights fees and maintaining sustainable services.

Naver designed this Chizchiz World Cup broadcast not only to boost advertising revenue by capturing traffic but also as a key trigger to encourage sign-ups for the Naver Plus membership. While general users can watch South Korea’s matches for free in standard definition (480p), those who wish to view all matches in high definition (1080p) or access full-length replays must subscribe to the Naver Plus Membership (4,900 won per month) or the Cheat Key ad-free service (14,300 won per month). The strategy is to convert World Cup viewing demand into membership sign-ups and subsequently retain users within the Naver ecosystem through shopping, payment, and point benefits.

#SOOP is responding with “commentary-based broadcasts.” Instead of broadcasting the actual game footage, streamers like “Gamst” provide commentary on the game’s flow and interact with viewers in real time. Although there is no official broadcast feed, the strategy is to maintain user engagement by leveraging soccer-specialized streamers and fan communities.

This World Cup is expected to be a watershed moment in the battle for platform dominance between Chizich and SOOP. Both companies are locked in a close race, each recording around 3 million monthly active users (MAU). According to Mobile Index, Chizich saw 210,000 new installations in May, ranking 8th in the entertainment category.

Collaborations with the gaming industry are also notable. Nexon partnered with Naver to enable users to play a mini-game based on the soccer game “FC Online” directly within the Chizich broadcast screen. This integrates viewing and playing into a single screen by linking World Cup interest to game access and rewards. #Kakao is operating the “KakaoTalk Cheering Event” based on KakaoTalk Open Chat. The strategy is to increase user engagement time and maximize the value of advertising space through dedicated cheering rooms and real-time events.

To capitalize on the World Cup boom, it has become crucial to extend user engagement beyond just match broadcasts—specifically, to keep users active within their own services before and after the games. An industry insider noted, “Every World Cup match is becoming a test of platform competition, driving up TV viewership, streaming concurrent users, membership sign-ups, game participation, and community dwell time all at once.”