Already 1.4 Billion Invested in Facilities... Chairman Seo Junhyuk's Love for Basketball

Training Practice Courts for Preseason at Hongcheon Vivaldi Park
Home Stadium and Clubhouse Also Remodeled
Welfare Benefits Including Resort Use for Players

Sonointernational, the holding company of Daemyung Sono Group, is continuing its relentless betting moves on the professional basketball team 'Goyang Sono Skygers' it operates.

According to industry sources on the 1st, Sonointernational is currently carrying out remodeling work to install a basketball court inside the Vivaldi Park Youth Hostel in Hongcheon, Gangwon. This is a project to create a court that will be used as a training ground for the team’s pre-season training camp, with completion scheduled for the 8th. The court is equipped with the latest facilities including flooring, hoops, and electronic scoreboards, and Sonointernational is reported to have invested about 700 million KRW in this project.

Seo Jun-hyuk, Chairman of Sono International.
Photo by Asia Economy DB

Sonointernational has also embarked on a large-scale remodeling project for the home stadium used by the basketball team during the season, as well as for the auxiliary stadium, clubhouse, and trainer’s room. The facilities are set to be reborn as ones that would not fall short compared to NBA stadium facilities, and Sonointernational has also invested about 700 million KRW in this project. From Sonointernational’s perspective, it has spent a total of 1.4 billion KRW on basketball team facility investments before the season, an amount equivalent to half of the domestic player salary cap (total salary limit of 2.8 billion KRW).

The background of such investment moves is said to be the 'love for basketball' of the team owner, Chairman Seo Jun-hyuk (43), according to industry insiders. Chairman Seo is known to have been fascinated by the NBA during his studies in Minnesota, USA, and has long wanted to operate a professional sports team. It is said that the recent acquisition and establishment of the basketball team by Sonointernational was possible thanks to Chairman Seo’s bold decision. Chairman Seo is also known as a fan of the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies, and the Goyang Sono team uniform is designed in shades of blue, inspired by the Memphis uniform.

As the owner of the Goyang Sono Skygers, Chairman Seo is reported to have introduced a welfare system that allows the players and staff to use hotel & resort rooms and golf courses, along with other facilities, on the same basis as company employees, in addition to facility investments. The team is highly satisfied with the generous investment from the parent company’s chairman. Coach Kim Seung-gi told Asia Economy in a phone interview, "You can feel the team owner’s affection for basketball," and added, "We are just grateful."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.