ENA’s ‘X The League’ turns influencer clout into a global sales competition

Global social media influencers who rose to fame on Netflix dating reality shows “Too Hot to Handle” (2020-24) and “Badly in Love” (2025–) and elsewhere will compete to sell consumer products for a $500,000 prize in ENA’s new commerce reality series.

Billed by the network as the “world’s first” show of its kind, “X The League” brings together eight teams representing nine countries, all vying for the cash prize — and national bragging rights. Contestants draw on their personal brands, fan bases and marketing strategies to engage consumers and drive sales for goods, including cosmetics, through social media.

The lineup includes actor Ki Eun-se leading the Korean team as well as Kiichan of “Badly in Love,” representing Japan, and Francesca Farago, who appeared in the first season of “Too Hot to Handle,” competing for the U.S. team. 

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But the show’s two hosts, Girls’ Generation member Tiffany Young and GOT7’s BamBam, said they entered the program with little knowledge of its reality-TV stars and were indifferent to individual contestants' backgrounds as they provided commentary on the reality show — even if their own star power helped the production secure the international cast.

“We were working through thick scripts throughout filming, so we didn’t really view the contestants in a personal light, in terms of who was a reality star or television personality,” Tiffany said at a press conference in western Seoul on Thursday. The show will air on ENA from Sunday and stream globally through Rakuten Viki.

BamBam, meanwhile, said he “doesn’t watch a lot of Netflix.” Instead, the contestant who left the strongest impression on him was a member of the Chinese team during the first mission, as the singer was "struck by his charisma."

“Each country has its own distinct appeal and style, so every team makes a different kind of impact,” BamBam said. “That makes it fun to watch the different countries compete, and there is also a lot to learn from them.”

The competition features participants from Korea, the United States, Japan, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia. The 40 sellers — who collectively command more than 360 million subscribers and followers, including heavyweights like Singaporean YouTuber JianHao Tan, who has more than 7.7 million subscribers — compete in various missions over several regions over 100 days. 

One characteristic that set the Korean team apart was its attentiveness to consumer trust and customer service, according to Noh Hee-young, a renowned marketer and brand consultant who also served as a judge on three seasons of “MasterChef Korea" (2012-16). Noh served as the "owner" of the Korean team on "X The League."

“The larger your fan base, the more powerful the backlash can be when fans turn against you,” Noh said. “That means sellers are constantly on edge and highly sensitive to customer service. I found that Korean sellers paid especially close attention to such selling points and how they handled customers.”

Asked about concerns over potential bias given that the global competition was created by a Korean studio, producer Lee Hye-ok said the results ultimately all boil down to sales.

“We visited each country and tailored the shoots to the local market, so there was no bias,” the producer said. “In fact, because we were concerned people might say we were favoring Korea, the Korean team, if anything, may have faced the opposite.”

“The results are not decided by the production team,” she added. “They are based on clear figures, including how much the sellers generate in sales and whether they complete the missions."

She added that the competition put the contestants’ fan bases and content-creation skills to the test, and that their popularity did not guarantee success.

“Viewers will also be able to follow their growth through the missions,” she said. “This is not simply a sales competition. It shows the process of an individual becoming a brand.”

BY KIM JU-YEON [[email protected]]