Minister Yuinchon: "Active Support for the Era of 100 Trillion Won in Sports Industry Sales"

"I believe now is a definite opportunity to grow the sports industry. We will not spare any support."

On the 8th, Yoo In-chon, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, made this statement at a meeting with sports companies held at Sports360 Play, a sports industry exhibition and experience center located in Olympic Park, Songpa-gu, Seoul.

The government is actively stepping up support to make the sports industry a new growth engine. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism unveiled the "4th Mid- to Long-term Plan for the Promotion of the Sports Industry" on the 9th, aiming for sports industry sales to reach the 100 trillion won level by 2028. The goal is to lead the revival of the domestic sports industry, which has contracted since COVID-19, through active support from this year until 2028, and to establish a foundation for sustainable growth.

[Photo by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism]

Prior to the announcement of the "4th Mid- to Long-term Plan for the Promotion of the Sports Industry," Minister Yoo said at the meeting with sports companies, "Few countries have hosted as many mega sports events like the Olympics and the World Cup as we have." He added, "However, despite hosting so many mega sports events, it has always been regrettable that we have not developed a single sports product that we can present on the global stage." He emphasized that going forward, to avoid such regrets, the government will actively support the growth of the sports industry.

As of 2022, the domestic sports industry sales volume was 78 trillion won, nearly recovering to the 81 trillion won level of 2019 before COVID-19. Sports industry sales fell to 53 trillion won in 2020 due to the pandemic but showed growth rates in the 20% range for two consecutive years thereafter.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced plans to grow the sports industry to 105 trillion won by 2028. Additionally, it plans to increase the number of sports innovation companies with sales exceeding 10 billion won to over 1,000 by 2028. The plan is to nurture sports companies to strengthen global competitiveness and pursue high value-added sports industry development through linkage with various industrial sectors such as K-content.

Minister Yoo said, "Most of the time, sports industries grow by leveraging opportunities like the Olympics, but I think efforts to grow the sports industry itself have been neglected." He added, "The government and companies need to join forces more to establish a growth foundation for the sports industry."

The meeting was attended by Sportizen CEO Shim Chan-gu, Win&Win CEO Park Kyung-rae, Creates CEO Seok Jae-ho, and Sports Industry Association Chairman Baek Sung-wook, among others, to discuss support policies to enhance the global competitiveness of the sports industry and transform it into a high value-added industry.

Minister Yoo said, "To secure the global competitiveness of the sports industry, investment through funds is needed rather than simple government support." He added, "The government will carefully pay attention to play a catalytic role that supports companies’ efforts and helps promote our sports companies on the world stage."