Criticism Over 50% Ticket Allocation and Unilateral Commission Rate for NHN Link
"Turning a Cultural Space Into a Profit Venture... 88 Lawn Field Construction Also Notified After the Fact"
The Seoul Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium has been renamed "Ticketlink Live Arena," sparking strong backlash from the performance industry over the naming rights agreement signed between the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation and NHN Link (Ticketlink).
On November 5, the Korea Popular Music Performance Industry Association stated, "Olympic Park, which is operated with taxpayers' money, should be a cultural space that grows together with the performance industry, not a means for the foundation to generate profit."
In August, the foundation signed a naming rights agreement worth approximately 10 billion won with NHN Link, changing the handball gymnasium's name to "Ticketlink Live Arena." However, the agreement included a clause granting Ticketlink exclusive reservation rights for 50% of all event tickets, which triggered opposition from the performance industry. The association pointed out, "This infringes on the ticket allocation rights, which are the exclusive authority of performance planners, and repurposes a public facility as a profit base for a specific private company."
The foundation explained in an official letter sent to each performance planning company on October 31 that "two briefing sessions were held and opinions were collected transparently regarding the naming rights agreement." However, the association countered, "This was merely a post-facto notification after signing the contract without prior consultation."
The association also criticized that the "support measures by NHN Link" mentioned by the foundation were limited to vague statements without concrete implementation plans. It further claimed that the ticket commission rate was unilaterally decided without consultation with performance planners, and that only a single line stating "the commission rate is set below the market average" was specified.
The construction schedule for the 88 Lawn Field, carried out without discussion with the performance industry, also became a source of conflict. While the foundation claimed that "the construction schedule was shared in advance," the association argued, "After mentioning the need for lawn drainage and budget at a meeting in August, the only notification was a single construction notice posted in September on the 'Joy All Park' community band operated by Korea Sports Industry Development. This is clearly a post-facto notification."
In particular, the association pointed out that at the customer communication meeting held on September 29, the foundation's representative initially declined to attend but participated belatedly at the association's request, and only listened to the industry's opinions in a perfunctory manner. There were no follow-up discussions or actions afterward.
An association representative stated, "Performance planners are not simply tenants; they are the key players responsible for everything from planning and production to operation, promotion, and audience management." The representative criticized, "The foundation's unilateral commercialization of public facilities while ignoring the realities and opinions of the industry is an obstacle to the sustainable growth of the popular music performance industry."
The association urged the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation to hold a third meeting for substantive consultation before NHN Link applies for the handball gymnasium rental in the second half of 2026. The performance industry warned, "If the situation does not improve, we will not hesitate to take collective action."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
