South Korea plans to make esports eligible for its state-controlled Sports Toto betting system as part of a wider overhaul of legal sports wagering through 2030. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has included esports among the new categories it wants to add by 2028, alongside professional table tennis, handball, and billiards.
Sports Toto currently covers five sports: football, basketball, baseball, volleyball, and golf. Football and basketball have been available since 2001, baseball and golf since 2004, and volleyball since 2006. The government has commissioned work on selection criteria for new sports and plans to use a committee to decide which competitions meet the requirements, rather than limiting expansion to the four categories already identified.
Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Kim Dae-hyun said the government intends to add qualifying sports instead of setting a fixed number of new categories. Esports has an additional route into consideration because it is now an official Asian Games medal sport, while South Korean law already recognizes professional esports as organized competitive activity between registered players.
The proposal is part of the government’s Sports Policy Vision 2030, presented by the National Sports Policy Committee on Sept. 4. South Korea wants to expand the legal Sports Toto product after estimating that illegal sports gambling reached KRW 21.72 trillion ($15.7 billion) in 2025, approximately four times the size of the regulated market.
Sports Toto is the only authorized sports betting system available to the general public in South Korea, with proceeds used to fund sports development through the National Sports Promotion Fund. The National Sports Promotion Act prohibits other companies from issuing equivalent sports betting products, including through online services.
The government also plans to introduce an official mobile betting service in 2027 and gradually extend Sports Toto sales into late-night and early-morning hours. In-play products, initially covering domestic competitions, are targeted for 2028. The current payout rate of around 64% is also under review, while the per-round purchase limit could increase from KRW 100,000 to KRW 200,000.
Esports organizations had already pushed for access to Sports Toto before the latest government plan. The Korea e-Sports Association submitted a proposal to the Democratic Party in May 2025 calling for esports to be added to the system, arguing that betting revenue could create another source of funding for professional leagues, teams, infrastructure, and player development. KeSPA proposed starting with a controlled pilot involving a limited number of professional matches.
The Korea Sports Promotion Foundation, KeSPA, and the company operating the League of Legends Champions Korea competition had also discussed adding the LCK to Sports Toto several years earlier. A 2023 proposal targeted a potential launch during the 2024 LCK season, but the plan did not proceed.
Illegal esports betting is already available to South Korean players through offshore gambling sites, while the National Gambling Control Commission classifies unauthorized online sports wagering as illegal Sports Toto activity. South Korea has stepped up enforcement against those operators this year, including blocking 1,280 illegal sports betting websites ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
The esports expansion is not yet a confirmed launch for individual competitions such as the LCK or VALORANT Champions Tour. Sports and leagues will still have to meet the government’s selection requirements before Sports Toto can offer betting on them, with the wider expansion currently targeted for completion by 2028.