KOI, known as Movistar KOI for sponsorship reasons, is a Spanish professional esports organization owned by OverActive Media. The organization was founded by Internet celebrity and streamer Ibai Llanos and former FC Barcelona footballer Gerard Piqué on 15 December 2021.
From its first months of competition, the organization garnered significant media attention and audience reach in both the Spanish League of Legends and Valorant leagues. Seeking to expand its brand presence, the organization announced on 6 October 2022 a partnership with Infinite Reality and its ReKTGlobal brand, owners of Rogue. This partnership ended on 3 November 2023 following the revelation of non-payments by Infinite Reality and unsuccessful sporting goals. Two months after this separation, on 4 January 2024, OverActive Media, owner of MAD Lions, acquired KOI and Movistar Riders and merged them with MAD Lions, forming Movistar KOI and MAD Lions KOI. The team competed under these names during 2024 until the final merger, announced at the Movistar KOI-Con event on 6 December 2024.
The organization competes with three teams in League of Legends (European LEC and Spanish LES and Circuito Tormenta); one team in Teamfight Tactics; and two players for Pokémon Champions at VGC events. It also has a Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 team that competes as Toronto KOI in the CDL.
History 2021–2022: Fundation and early growth
On 1 September 2021, Ibai Llanos and Gerard Piqué announced the creation of an esports club that would compete in the Spanish League of Legends Superliga after acquiring a league slot. At the time, the club's name, logo, sponsors, and players had yet to be decided. The organization was officially founded on 15 December at an event held at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, hosted by Llanos and Piqué, which was attended by more than 15,000 people and attracted a peak Twitch viewership of 379,000. During the event, the organization also announced its entry into Valorant and revealed its initial content creators.
In its first months of competition in 2022, the organization quickly attracted significant attention, setting viewership records for Spanish esports broadcasts and drawing large crowds to its matches and events, reinforcing its position as one of Spain and Europe most followed esports organizations. By the end of the year, KOI had expanded its presence across multiple titles.
2022–2023: Brand expansion and instability Following rapid growth and significant impact on the Spanish esports scene, the organization sought to expand its brand internationally and establish a presence in major European competitions. On 6 October 2022, Goatch Global, KOI's parent company, announced a strategic partnership with Infinite Reality and its brand ReKTGlobal, the owner of Rogue. Under the agreement, Rogue's competitive teams in League of Legends, Rainbow Six Siege and Rocket League would compete under the KOI brand from the 2023 season.
The partnership represented a major step in KOI's expansion, particularly in League of Legends, where the organization gained access to the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC), Europe's top-tier competition. However, the collaboration was ultimately affected by poor sporting results and financial difficulties, reportedly linked to Infinite Reality's failure to meet its financial obligations. On 3 November 2023, KOI and Infinite Reality ended their partnership. It was subsequently reported that Ibai Llanos had invested more than €3 million of his own money to cover payments to employees, players and content creators during the organization's financial difficulties.
2024–present: New beginning and consolidation After finishing its partnership with Infinite Reality in November 2023, KOI entered a restructuring period known as "Operación Fénix", focused on rebuilding the organization and strengthening its position in the Spanish esports scene.
On 4 January 2024, Goatch Global (KOI) was acquired along with Team Randomk Esports (Movistar Riders) by OverActive Media, the owner of MAD Lions. OAM decided to merge the three Spanish organizations under the KOI brand, competing for the 2024 season as Movistar KOI and MAD Lions KOI. On 28 February, it was announced that Movistar had renewed its contract as the main sponsor for three more years, through the end of 2026, having sponsored Riders since 2017.
At the Movistar KOI-Con event held on 6 December 2024 at the Palacio Vistalegre in Madrid, the final merger was announced, with the organization now competing solely as Movistar KOI.
Divisions Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
On 23 October 2025, it was announced that Toronto Ultra —the other brand owned by OverActive Media— would become part of the KOI brand as Toronto KOI. The team competes in the Call of Duty League (CDL), where it has won three Stage (2021 Major II, 2023 Major III and 2024 Major I) and played in two Championship Grand Finals (2021 and 2023).
League of Legends LEC 2023
The team entered the LEC in 2023 following a collaboration agreement with Rogue. The entire roster was maintained except in the top lane, where Mathias "Szygenda" Jensen was signed.
In their debut winter split, the team managed to qualify for the playoffs, finishing in 3rd position. In spring the team managed to enter the group stage, finishing in 6th position.
For the summer split, the team signed Henk "Advienne" Reijenga as their new support. They managed to enter the group stage but failed to qualify for the playoffs, finishing in 8th position.
2024
After ending their collaboration with Rogue, KOI remained in the LEC through a new merger with MAD Lions (along with Movistar Riders). The new team became known as MAD Lions KOI (MDK) and announced its new roster for 2024, consisting of four rookies: Àlex "Myrwn" Villarejo as top, Bartłomiej "Fresskowy" Przewoźnik as mid, David "Supa" Martínez as bot, and Álvaro "Alvaro" Fernández as support. All of them led by Javier "Elyoya" Prades in the jungle.
In their first split, the team qualified for playoffs with a 5–4 record. After losing to Fnatic 0–2 in the upper bracket, the team went on a winning streak to the split final, beating GIANTX (2–0), Team Vitality (2–0), Fnatic (3–2), and Team BDS (3–2). In the final, they started by winning the first map but ultimately fell 1–3 to G2 Esports.
In the spring they once again made it into the playoffs with a 4–5 record. In the playoffs, they lost to G2 Esports 0–2, dropping to the lower bracket. After defeating GIANTX 2–1, they finally lost to Team Vitality 0–2, being eliminated from the split and failing to qualify for the 2024 Mid-Season Invitational.
In the summer split they miraculously qualified for the playoffs on the last day after beating Rogue in the last regular match and winning two tiebreakers against Rogue and Team Vitality. In playoffs, they lost 1–2 in first round of upper bracket against Team BDS after dominating the series. They were eventually eliminated by Karmine Corp after a disappointing series.
With 200 points accumulated during the season, the team qualified for the Season Finals in 4th place. After defeating G2 Esports 3–2 in the upper bracket semifinals, the team fell to Fnatic 2–3 in the following round. In the lower bracket final, they were ultimately eliminated by G2 Esports, thus qualifying for the 2024 World Championship as the third and final seed. At Worlds, the team advanced to the Swiss stage after winning their first two games in the play-in against Vikings Esports and PSG Talon. In the Swiss stage, the team was eliminated after losing all three of their matches against Bilibili Gaming, PSG Talon and GAM Esports.
2025
The team retained its entire roster except for the mid position. On 6 December 2024, at KOI-Con event, Joseph "Jojopyun" Joon-pyun was announced as new midlaner, becoming the first player imported from North America to Europe. On the same day, it was announced that the team would be renamed Movistar KOI (MKOI) and played a showmatch against Karmine Corp, winning 2–0.
In the winter split, the team qualified for the playoffs with a 6–3 record. In the upper bracket, they beat Team BDS 2–0 and lost 0–2 to Karmine Corp. In the lower bracket, they beat GIANTX 2–0 before finally losing 1–3 to Fnatic, thus finishing in 4th place and failing to qualify 2025 First Stand.
In the spring they qualified for the playoffs again with another 6–3 record. During the regular season, the team hosted the LEC Roadtrip Madrid, which took place at the Madrid Arena on 26–27 April. In the playoffs they beat the reigning champion Karmine Corp twice, the last time being to advance to the split final against G2 Esports and qualifying for the 2025 Mid-Season Invitational and the 2025 Esports World Cup. In the final, the team proved superior throughout and won 3–1, achieving their 4th LEC title (the first under the KOI brand).
At MSI they were quickly eliminated after falling to Bilibili Gaming (1–3) and CTBC Flying Oyster (1–3), finishing in 7th–8th place. In the EWC, the team qualified for the playoffs after beating GAM Esports and their recent MSI executioner, CTBC Flying Oyster. In playoffs the team was eliminated by reigning world champion T1 1–2, finishing in 5th–8th position.
On summer split the team qualify for playoffs in first position in Group 1. In playoffs, after their victory against Fnatic, the team qualified for the 2025 World Championship and the Summer Finals held at the Caja Mágica in Madrid. At the event, they beat Fnatic again to secure a spot in the split final against G2 Esports. In the final, held on 28 September, the team was outplayed and lost 0–3.
At Worlds, they started with losses against KT Rolster and G2 Esports. The team recovered after beating and eliminating Fnatic and Team Secret Whales. They then faced the reigning world champions, T1, for a spot in the quarterfinals, but lost 0–2, finishing in 9th–11th place.
2026
The team retained its full roster and it was announced that it would host three LEC Roadtrips this year.
At the first split of the season, the LEC Versus, the team suffered ups and downs in the regular season but qualified for the playoffs in 6th place with a 6–5 record. In the playoffs, the team comfortably beat Team Vitality (2–0) and Natus Vincere (2–0), securing passage to the Versus Finals at the Olimpic Arena in Badalona, the first of three events hosted by the team. At the event, the team lost 2–3 to Karmine Corp for a place in the final, finishing in 3rd place and failing to qualify for the 2026 First Stand.
In the spring split, the team finished the regular season with a 6–3 record. During the same period, they held their second Roadtrip of the year on the weekend of 8–10 May at the Madrid Arena. In the playoffs, they swept Team Vitality 3–0 and suffered a reverse sweep in a 2–3 loss to G2 Esports for a spot in the split final and qualification for 2026 Mid-Season Invitational. They then faced Karmine Corp in one last chance to qualify both, but ultimately fell in a disappointing series, finishing in 3rd place and qualifying for the 2026 Esports World Cup. At EWC, the team lost to Bilibili Gaming and GAM Esports and was eliminated.
During the summer split, the team performed at an unrecognizable level and managed to qualify for the playoffs thanks to a stroke of luck. In the playoffs, they beat Team Vitality to qualify for the Summer Finals in Nice. At the event, they swept Natus Vincere (3–1) and Karmine Corp (3–0), qualifying for the 2026 World Championship and the final of the split against G2 Esports. They were defeated in the final 0–3.
LES 2022