USA Esports and Korea’s KeSPA Announce Strategic Partnership

USA Esports and the Korean eSports Association (KeSPA) have announced a strategic partnership.

With South Korea’s rich history and success in esports, KeSPA is one of the most recognised governing bodies in the industry.

Meanwhile, USA Esports is hoping for Olympic recognition to become the national governing body of esports for the United States.

The non-profit organization was created earlier this year and is the USA’s national partner for the upcoming Esports Nations Cup.

USA Esports is supported by eleven North American esports organisations, including Team Liquid and 100 Thieves, and has big-name retired pros on its Board of Directors, including Jordan ‘n0thing’ Gilbert and Soren ‘Bjergsen’ Bjerg.

Meanwhile, KeSPA has agreed to return to the Esports Nations Cup after an initial dispute with the Esports World Cup Foundation.

Why Have USA Esports and KeSPA Partnered Up?

The statement released by USA Esports claims that this strategic partnership will benefit both parties.

While not revealing any details, the release states that the organizations have created a 12-month roadmap that will guide the collaboration.

It also claims the early priorities of this partnership will be launching pilot programs that “demonstrate mutual value and establish a foundation for long-term cooperation between the two nations’ esports ecosystems.”

The key areas that USA Esports and KeSPA will work together on are:

• National team selection frameworks
• Delegation exchanges
• Youth and scholastic esports pathways
• High-performance coaching and officials training
• Competition operations
• General knowledge sharing across organizations

KeSPA President Alex Youngman Kim stressed the importance of scholastic esports for the Korean governing body:

“For KeSPA in particular, this alliance is deeply meaningful as it provides additional momentum for the expansion of scholastic esports — a key initiative included in the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s long-term development plan and a project KeSPA is pursuing with full dedication.”

While the partnership looks to develop national team selection frameworks too, the CEO of Gen.G, a Korean organisation with USA-based investment from Silicon Valley, criticised KeSPA’s team selection process.

Arnold Hur was frustrated with KeSPA’s reliance on individual statistics when forming Korea’s League of Legends roster for the 2026 Asia Games.

What do you make of this collaboration between USA Esports and KeSPA? Let us know on the Insider Gaming Discord.

And as well as those two organizations, all 100+ national team partners for the Esports Nations Cup have been confirmed.