On October 20, Korean multinational Nexon partnered with FC Online and FC Mobile to host the Nexon Icon Match 2024. The event was organized by Shoot for Love, a Korean campaign bringing football fans together in support of helping children with cancer. The event fielded 11 legendary defenders against 11 attackers, but despite the famed football names throughout the event, it failed to reach even 200,000 concurrent viewers.
The match saw FC Spear and Shield United play each other, with world-known international players on each side, like Thierry Henry, Didier Drogba, Kaká, Figo, Shevchenko, Rivaldo, Rio Ferdinand, and many more. The idea for the match is based on a Korean word meaning contradiction, but literally translated, shield and spear. The naming convention of the event mirrors the broadcasting and marketing of the event; the Nexon Icons Match 2024 was focused on a Korean audience, with little effort to reach more international audiences online.
Shield United ended up defeating FC Spear 4-1, with Yaya Toure and Clarence Seedorf scoring two goals in the first half for their defenders team. In the second half, more and more legendary Korean footballers came on the pitch, driving excitement both in the stadium and for the livestream broadcast. Park Joo-Ho scored, extending the lead 3-0, and Javier Mascherano added a fourth. FC Spear finally retaliated when one of the greatest Asian footballers, Park Ji-Sung, scored a penalty in the 85th minute.
In total, the event received 319.1K Hours Watched and peaked at 189.9K PV. Most of this viewership came from the EA SPORTS FC 온라인 YouTube channel, which was one of the only four channels to cover the match. The YouTube has only 286K Subscribers, making the almost 190K PV particularly impressive. The match was also broadcast within South Korea by radio and television company Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation, Naver Sports, and SOOP Global.
The SOOP Global broadcasts of the match received particularly poor viewership, with SOOPSPORTS and SOOPKR both recording fewer than 100 Average Viewers for their event coverage. Since SOOP Global’s launch, the platform's Beta period has seen it develop into a largely Thai-language livestreaming platform, and with a minor English-speaking audience they account for most of the platform’s viewership together. The channel was not ideal for an English-language international broadcast, and it failed to reach many English-speaking fans.
Nevertheless, the event was largely a success in South Korea. The event’s 48,000 tickets sold out in only just one hour, and reportedly, 64,000 fans entered the stadium for the event. On top of the other almost 190K Korean fans who watched the event online, the tournament was significantly popular within South Korea. However, in comparison to other livestreamed charity and exhibition matches, the Nexon Icons Match was unable to come close to industry-leading events.
In the past year, content creators across the livestreaming and video industries have held charity matches, exhibition games, and special football events. These events often feature a mishmash of internet celebrities, footballing legends, and other media personalities. Despite the Nexon Icons Match 2024 undoubtedly having one of the most star-studded footballing rosters, the event was one of the least-watched charity games in livestreaming of the last year.
Events such as DjMaRiiO’s clash of Spain vs LATAM or the Beta Squad vs AMP Charity Match clearly understand how to combine viewerships to create massive peaks for a singular event day. These events, as well as Sidemen’s yearly charity matches and aminematue’s Eleven All Star series, create massive peak viewerships for their sparse events, combine multiple audiences from across industries, and appeal to a young audience of viewers.
The Nexon Icons Match 2024 fell short of delivering what could have been one of the most-watched charity events of the year in footballing. The charity match had some of the most memorable names in football, but after failing to market or broadcast the event to other international audiences, it was unable to achieve the full potential viewership the livestreaming industry offers for these events.
