With the esports team named Box Gaming boasting impressive achievements and a strong influencer team, Mr. Bui Ba Hien still decided to take a risk by purchasing the broadcasting rights to LCK for nearly ten billion VND.
With the view of “it’s okay to make mistakes, but we must do it authentically,” Mr. Bui Ba Hien has persistently explored various paths for Box Vietnam Joint Stock Company. To date, Box Vietnam has become a prestigious brand in the domestic and international esports market.
A few months ago, Box Vietnam made headlines with a daring move that shook the domestic esports community, setting a new precedent and creating a new path for investors interested in esports: acquiring the broadcasting rights for the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) Summer 2021 tournament.
This tournament has, for the first time, brought League of Legends (LoL) fans in Vietnam the closest visual experience with the Korean stars they have always admired. The hundreds of thousands of live views per match, along with numerous Vietnamese streamers becoming Global Content partners with Korea, has truly made many media investors “look up” in admiration. Recently, we had a conversation with Bui Ba Hien – CEO of Box Vietnam, to hear his insights on the success of the Vietnamese LCK project.
Interviewer: Why did you decide to invest nearly ten billion VND to take the risk of acquiring the broadcasting rights for the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) instead of any other esports tournament?
When researching esports tournaments, I found that the number of domestic fans following the LCK tournament significantly surpasses many other esports tournaments. The peak period of LoL in Vietnam coincided with the time when Korean teams were dominating. The impression that fans have of the LCK is undeniable, as many “unauthorized” channels still attract 5,000 to 10,000 live viewers.
Therefore, I was determined to invest in acquiring the broadcasting rights for the LCK in Vietnam, not just for myself, but to ensure that fans could experience the highest quality and completeness of this highly professional tournament.
Interviewer: To get the Korean partners to agree, it must not have been simple during the negotiation process?
In fact, the Korean partners were very enthusiastic about this deal. They were always looking for a broadcast unit for their esports tournament rights to reach foreign audiences. The most challenging aspect of the negotiation process was ourselves.
Even though I was very confident in Box Vietnam’s capabilities, at that time I also felt that acquiring the rights to a foreign esports tournament was still too early for us. This also led us to set modest figures in the initial phase, but for the partners, those figures were sufficient for them to agree to allow Box Vietnam to become the exclusive broadcaster of the LCK in Vietnam.
Interviewer: In reality, the Vietnamese LCK has very high live viewership and overall views, exceeding many initial expectations. Box Vietnam must have gained a lot of profit from this project?
During the time we held the broadcasting rights for the LCK, we received enthusiastic support from domestic audiences. The happiest moment for me was when staff reported that there were over 250,000 viewers watching the Vietnamese LCK live at peak.
However, from those numbers, to say that we gained a lot of profit would not be accurate. In the current situation where investors are still cautious and exploring the market, we can say that in terms of revenue, we are still not profitable. We can only be proud to be one of the pioneering units in acquiring the rights to an esports tournament.
For me, this is a massive “profit” investment. We have attracted attention, built trust not only with partners but also with the community. Most people starting a business only focus on increasing sales, which is a mistake. The real profit lies in reputation, which cannot be quantified. From the success of the Vietnamese LCK, people can clearly see the potential of licensed tournaments, and even broader, the potential of the entire Vietnamese esports scene, and see the potential of Box Vietnam, seeing what we can achieve. Thus, our Vietnamese LCK profits in reputation, not in revenue.
Interviewer: What is the reason behind the success of the Vietnamese LCK?
Internally, Box Vietnam has a wide network platform, allowing us to easily convey messages to every corner of social media. We have a tightly managed operational team with extensive experience, who have been with us since we had nothing, thus we can effectively minimize mistakes.
Externally, in my view, all success comes from understanding market trends, whether this understanding is proactive or reactive. The esports market is currently the most promising market. We see what viewers want, and we cater to that.
That’s why we can create the success of the Vietnamese LCK.
Interviewer: How can we change the viewing habits of Vietnamese gamers?
I think changing this habit is a long process; we cannot solely influence the audience from our side. Box Vietnam has taken the initial steps to change this habit, which serves as a motivation for many other units to follow suit and bring quality tournaments to esports viewers.
For the community, people will naturally recognize that licensed tournaments offer many more benefits to viewers than just watching regular tournaments. From image quality, audience interaction, to engaging with stars, etc., are all on a new level. This will become the future of broadcasting esports tournaments.
Interviewer: After successfully acquiring the broadcasting rights for LCK Summer 2021, will Box Vietnam continue to be the rights holder for this tournament in the next season?
Currently, we still hold not only the broadcasting rights for the LCK but also for the WildRift Champion Korea (WCK) – the champion tournament for Wild Rift in Korea. I believe that after the recent success of the Vietnamese LCK channel, we will have a significant advantage in continuing to secure the broadcasting rights for these two tournaments and other prestigious tournaments in the future.
One thing is for sure, after the last season, everyone can see the “fat” profit from acquiring the LCK broadcasting rights. Therefore, we will likely have to compete with many other units. At this point, anyone who doesn’t “jump” into esports is not wise.
However, my perspective has always been to encourage competition. When there is competition, audiences will have choices, providers will have more resources, and the broadcasting units will strive to enhance themselves to meet the demands of partners and audience needs.
However, if another unit secures our broadcasting rights, we will also be happy for the audience to have access to better quality tournaments, as well as being motivated to improve ourselves to keep pace with the evolution of esports in our country.
Interviewer: After Box Sports acquired the LCK rights, the League of Legends community witnessed many closely linked deals between Korean and Vietnamese League of Legends organizations. Is this a sign that Vietnamese gamers will soon have the opportunity to see Korean stars in Vietnam in the future, such as a tour by Faker?
Currently, we are supporting Korean organizations with Vietnam, such as the recent talent selection program “Be my BRO” with the Fredit Brion team. We expect to bring LCK stars to Vietnamese audiences next year, such as ShowMaker from DK, Chovy from HLE…
Interviewer: What are Box Vietnam’s future development plans?
We aim to create an “ecosystem” model of esports that fits the Vietnamese environment. Currently, we have only achieved a part of this, and the road ahead is still long, during which we will undoubtedly face many challenges as well as seek opportunities.
With the market’s potential still very open and in its infancy, we hope to continue gaining more friends and investors to accompany us in the next 5-10 years.
Interviewer: Thank you for your insights, and we wish Box Vietnam continued growth.