Son Heung-min transfer clouds Coupang’s $303 mil. EPL streaming bet

Former Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min plays in a Coupang Play Series match against Newcastle United at Seoul World Cup Stadium, Aug. 3. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Korean international Son Heung-min's surprise move across the pond has dealt a blow to e-commerce giant Coupang's ambitious bid to stream the English Premier League (EPL).

Coupang, which has hosted the Coupang Play Series since 2022 by inviting top European football clubs to Korea for preseason matches, signed a six-year deal earlier this year to exclusively broadcast all EPL matches starting with the 2025–26 season, reportedly worth 420 billion won ($303 million).

The massive investment was aimed at attracting more users — with Son’s star power at Tottenham Hotspur seen as a major draw — in an increasingly fierce streaming war. But last week, the former Tottenham captain completed a transfer to Los Angeles FC of Major League Soccer.

Coupang has been focusing its strategy on sports to carve out a competitive edge against Netflix and local rivals in Korea’s cutthroat streaming market.

In June, it rolled out the Sports Pass subscription plan, requiring users to pay an additional 9,900 won monthly on top of the existing Coupang Wow membership fee of 7,890 won to access premium live sports content such as the Premier League, NBA and Formula One contests.

On Aug. 3, the streaming service broadcasted a Coupang Play Series match between Newcastle United and Tottenham.

With three Korean players in action — Park Seung-soo for Newcastle, and Yang Min-hyeok and Son for Tottenham — the event drew 1.28 million daily active users, marking the highest figure in a year, since last year’s Coupang Play Series match between Bayern Munich and Tottenham, which attracted over 1.45 million daily users.

Poster for the 2025 Coupang Play Series / Courtesy of Coupang Play

However, the hype may be short-lived in the lead-up to the new EPL season, due to Son's departure.

Without Son — regarded as the biggest audience draw among Korean viewers — the Premier League's remaining Korean players, including Hwang Hee-chan and Park, may find themselves unable to sustain the same level of interest. As a result, Coupang Play risks losing the local viewer base that had justified its hefty investment.

Domestic streaming rivals Tving and Wavve are completing their merger, offering bundled subscriptions and securing the growing baseball market with exclusive rights to stream the increasingly popular Korea Baseball Organization. Meanwhile, international players like Netflix and Disney+ continue to grow by capitalizing on the appeal of original content.

In sports, Apple TV is poised to benefit from Son’s transfer, as they hold the global broadcast rights for all MLS games, including those of LAFC, through its MLS Season Pass, which may attract local viewers eager to follow the country’s football icon.

"We will actively invest across multiple areas to meet the high expectations of sports fans by offering top-quality broadcasts, the broadest programming lineup, vivid picture quality and a variety of additional content," a Coupang official told The Korea Times Monday.