KeSPA reports $510M economic impact for 2023 LoL Worlds

The Korea e-Sports Association unveiled on February 20 the results of a study on “the economic impact of esports competitions and measures to expand tax benefits.” Conducted over approximately several months with publishers, clubs, and other stakeholders in the Korean esports ecosystem, the report aimed to “objectively analyze the economic impact of esports and provide foundational data for policymaking in support of sustainable industry growth.”

To achieve this, KeSPA developed a specific analytical model for esports, the MEEI (Multi-layered Esports Economic Impact), which it applied retroactively to several major events: the 2023 League of Legends World Championship, the 2024 VALORANT Champions in Incheon, the 2025 LCK Finals at the Inspire Arena in Incheon, and the 2025 T1 Home Ground.

The headline figure from the study, which has been widely cited in the media since February 20, concerns the 2023 Worlds. According to KeSPA’s MEEI model, the event generated a “total production inducement effect” estimated at 740 billion KRW, roughly 510 million USD, 3.7 times higher than previously available estimates online and in the association’s own report, which had placed it around 200 billion KRW (138 million USD).

But a legitimate question arises: how does KeSPA arrive at such a gap and the 3.7x figure? The MEEI model does not simply calculate the direct spending of spectators and organizers; it adds a “quantified sponsorship value” in two components. The first, media value, is a standard calculation in the sponsorship industry, converting sponsor logo exposure time into equivalent advertising rates, based on hundreds of millions of online viewers during the complete tournament.

The second component is more unusual: KeSPA adds a “customer expansion value,” estimating the future value generated by new consumers acquired through the event, a concept borrowed from corporate marketing that conventional economic impact studies generally do not include, as it does not represent money actually spent in the local economy.

Together, these intangible values carry significant weight, representing nearly half of the total before multiplication. The sum is then multiplied by a factor of 1.8, derived from official economic tables of the Seoul Institute, reflecting the knock-on effect of spending on Seoul’s local economy; essentially, every won spent theoretically generates 1.8 won of total economic activity as it circulates through the local economic network.

KeSPA emphasizes that traditional methodologies, focused on conventional sports, struggle to capture esports-specific elements such as “digital audience data” and value based on “intellectual property licensing.” According to KeSPA, this limitation has systematically underestimated the sector’s real economic contribution.

This new calculation and its outcome, as striking as they are, come directly from KeSPA, which has a vested interest in demonstrating the economic value of the sector it promotes and defends in South Korea. Several methodological points warrant caution. First, the model relies on three “adjustment coefficients” (game title, tournament scale, and host region) whose values are set by KeSPA itself, without independent validation.

For the 2023 Worlds, highlighted by the federation, all three coefficients are set near the maximum allowed by the model due to the prestige of the event, the most-watched tournament in Western esports. Second, input data largely come from industry stakeholders themselves—publishers, clubs, and organizers—which could pose conflicts of interest. Finally, while the full report is available on KeSPA’s website, the fact that the industry-promoting body produces its own valuation methodology remains a significant bias.

Before the MEEI model, the 2023 Worlds were already an event with substantial impact. Direct and indirect economic effects had been estimated, depending on sources and methodologies used at the time, between 153 and 200 million USD (roughly 200–280 billion KRW). For comparison, the 2022 Worlds in North America generated an estimated impact of 53 million USD (~73 billion KRW) according to Riot Games’ own impact study. More recently, the 2024 Worlds final at London’s O2 Arena was estimated to have a direct economic impact of 12 million GBP (~15 million USD) for the city, according to London & Partners, limited to the final only, but giving a sense of scale.

Another point of reference, this time within esports itself, is the BLAST.tv Austin Major of Counter-Strike 2, held in June 2025 in Texas, which was the subject of an independent economic impact study conducted by Angelou Economics. The results after three weeks of competition: a total economic impact of 102 million USD for the city of Austin, with 30,248 out-of-state attendees (65% of total attendance), fans from all 50 U.S. states and 37 countries, and 46 million USD in media value for commercial partners.

Tom Noonan, president of Visit Austin, described the outcome as a “monumental win” for the city. While the Austin Major remains a smaller-scale event than the Worlds in terms of online viewership (peak of 1.8 million concurrent viewers versus several tens of millions for the Worlds), and its impact was assessed by a third-party firm, independent of the organizer.

Another useful comparison concerns media value. Independent firm Shikenso Analytics, which specializes in measuring sponsor exposure in esports, estimated the total media value of the 2023 Worlds at 133 million EUR (~200 billion KRW), a record for the esports industry at the time. KeSPA’s MEEI also includes this component, estimating it at roughly 150 billion KRW, a figure remarkably close to Shikenso’s, even slightly lower. On this aspect, the model aligns with industry standards.

Divergence appears in the next steps: KeSPA adds roughly 50 billion KRW of “customer expansion value,” the marketing component not used in conventional impact studies, then multiplies the total, including intangible values, by the regional coefficient of 1.8, as if it were real spending injected into the local economy. These successive layers turn the traditional 200 billion estimate into 740.

The model’s base assumptions can also be scrutinized. MEEI assumes that the 50,000 foreign visitors to the 2023 Worlds spent an average of 350,000 KRW over eight days, or roughly 2,800,000 KRW (~1,930 USD) per person. According to Yanolja Research, based on Korea Tourism Organization data, total inbound tourism revenue reached USD 16.45 billion for 16.37 million visitors in 2024—an average of approximately USD 1,005 per visitor per trip. KeSPA’s assumption thus implies nearly twice the national average, though this gap may be justified for fans traveling specifically for a multi-week event and possibly more inclined to purchase merchandise.

Outside esports, a comparison with the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest is instructive here. This similarly prestigious annual global event, which sold a record 404,088 tickets over nine days, generated a total economic impact of 408 million USD (~560 billion KRW) according to an independent Nielsen study, including direct spending, media, and social effects.

The event attracted six times more physical spectators than the 2023 LoL Worlds, which had about 70,000 offline attendees, relied primarily on digital audiences. Moreover, the two metrics do not measure exactly the same thing: Nielsen reports a classical, audited “total economic impact,” while KeSPA claims a “total production inducement effect,” derived from input-output analysis. In short, this economic framework models how each won spent propagates through sectors, structurally inflating figures by incorporating cascading effects across the production chain.

One methodological point deserves emphasis here. In classical economic impact studies, the regional multiplier applies only to actual spending by visitors, organizers, and delegations (hotels, restaurants, transportation, local suppliers, etc.). Media value and sponsorship value, when included, are always presented separately, as they do not correspond to money circulating in the local economy.

The 2025 T1 Home Ground was valued in the report at approximately KRW 30 billion (USD 23 million) in total economic impact. However, this figure was not derived from audited post-event data because the report explicitly modeled the 2025 edition by extrapolating from the 2024 event held at Goyang Sono Arena, assuming an expansion to Inspire Arena.

The calculation relied on forward-looking assumptions: 10,000 attendees, an immediate sell-out, 20% international visitors, and an average daily per-capita expenditure of KRW 500,000, justified by the purchasing power of T1's fanbase. These projected inputs were then processed through the MEEI framework, which adds estimated sponsorship value, media exposure, and regional multiplier effects. As a result, the KRW 30 billion figure reflects a modeled economic scenario built on structured assumptions rather than documented financial performance.

This figure should be contrasted with actual data provided by T1. In an August 2025 interview with Chosun Money, T1 COO Josh Woongki Ahn stated that the 2025 Home Ground generated 2–3 billion KRW (~1.4–2 million USD) in ticket sales alone over three days, excluding on-site merchandising and sponsorship. The gap between tangible revenue and the MEEI’s 30 billion illustrates the divide between real income and “modeled economic impact,” which includes estimated sponsorship value, media reach, and multiplier effects.

T1 nonetheless seems eager to capitalize on this success. Josh Woongki Ahn noted that “Our future plan is to take ‘home games’ overseas. Our goal is to hold games at the Sphere in Las Vegas within a few years. Ultimately, we want to make all of our games home games and build our own stadium.”