Domestic Sports Industry Revenue Hits 81 Trillion Won, 'All-Time High'

Record 81 Trillion Won in 2023
3.7% Increase Compared to 2022
Target 105 Trillion Won by 2028

In 2023, South Korea's sports industry recorded its highest-ever revenue of 81 trillion won.

On the 8th, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced the main results of the 2023 "Sports Industry Survey," conducted on businesses operating in the domestic sports industry. According to the report, key indicators of the sports industry in 2023 reached record highs. Revenue increased by 3.7% compared to 2022, reaching 81 trillion won, while the number of employees rose by 4.1% to 458,000. The number of businesses also grew by 4.6% to 126,186.

By sector, the sports goods industry showed the highest growth rate with a 4.7% increase in sales, followed by the sports services industry at 3.9%, and the sports facilities industry at 2.0% growth.

Specifically, in the goods sector, non-store retail sales related to sports (online sales) increased by 9.7%, sports footwear wholesale by 9.3%, and retail sales of exercise and game equipment by 6.3%, highlighting strong growth in distribution. In manufacturing, exercise and game equipment manufacturing rose by 7.1%, camping textile product manufacturing (such as tents) by 6.1%, and sports footwear manufacturing by 5.0%.

In the services sector, sports agent businesses (athlete managers) saw a 25.0% increase, professional sports teams (such as professional baseball and soccer teams) 20.6%, other sports education institutions (soccer schools, gymnastics classes, etc.) 15.3%, sports travel businesses (overseas golf trips, etc.) 14.8%, and martial arts education institutions (judo, boxing, etc.) 11.8% growth in sales.

In the facilities sector, other sports facility operations (tennis courts, table tennis halls, etc.) grew by 17.6%, other water sports facility operations (leisure boat docking facilities, recreational fishing boats, etc.) by 15.6%, outdoor stadium operations (soccer fields, baseball stadiums, etc.) by 13.7%, health clubs by 7.5%, swimming pools by 7.2%, and golf practice ranges by 6.9%.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism plans to expand the sports industry revenue scale to 105 trillion won by 2028. To achieve this, it will significantly increase loan support for the sports industry this year. Due to expected difficulties in the industry caused by high exchange rates and economic slowdown, the loan support budget has been greatly increased from 163.7 billion won last year to 248 billion won. Additionally, a total of 30 billion won will be invested to establish a sports industry fund. Following the passage of the amendment to the National Sports Promotion Act in the National Assembly plenary session on December 31 last year, loan support will be greatly expanded for the goods and services sectors, which have received relatively less support compared to the facilities sector. Furthermore, to strengthen the international competitiveness of sports companies, a new fund focusing on export companies will be established (government investment of 7 billion won), support for participation in overseas exhibitions and export consultation meetings will be expanded, and international broadcasting promotion support for promising sports companies (20 programs, 1 billion won) will be promoted.

A policy official from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism stated, "In 2024, for the first time ever, professional baseball attendance is expected to surpass 10 million, expanding professional sports viewership, and participation in national grassroots sports has been steadily increasing since COVID-19. Starting from July this year, fees for swimming pools and health clubs will be included in income tax deductions, which is expected to further increase public participation in sports and promote growth in related industries. Therefore, to achieve a market size of 105 trillion won by 2028, we will expand loan and export support for the sports industry and continuously enhance the support system for sports companies."

The Sports Industry Survey is a nationally approved statistical survey conducted under Article 7 of the Sports Industry Promotion Act and Article 18 of the Statistics Act. It has been conducted since 2010 to understand the scale and management status of the sports industry. This survey was conducted through visits, fax, and email targeting a sample of 14,006 companies out of 126,186 businesses.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism plans to publish the 2023 Sports Industry Survey on its website within this month so that anyone can access it.

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