Culture Ministry to Provide 19.3 Billion Won for Establishment and Operation of Corporate Sports Teams

Up to 500 Million Won in Establishment Support for Team Sports Over Three Years

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on October 30 that it will be accepting applications until December 12 for organizations eligible for support in establishing and operating corporate sports teams in 2026, with a total budget of 19.3 billion won.

Starting this year, the Ministry has divided the support targets into the public sector (metropolitan and basic local governments, local sports councils, public institutions, local public enterprises, etc.) and the private sector (general companies, etc.), and is accepting applications separately for establishment support and operational support. Organizations selected for establishment support can receive up to 300 million won for individual sports and up to 500 million won for team sports, distributed evenly over three years. For operational support, local governments submit a priority list of operating organizations within their region to the Ministry, which then selects the final recipients within the budget limits set for each local government.

KT Sports Corporate Sports Team Hockey Team
Photo by Korea Hockey Association

Additionally, starting this year, only organizations that comply with the mandatory requirements of the standard player contract, as stipulated by the Ministry, are eligible to apply. To strengthen policies for the prevention of human rights violations such as (sexual) violence, organizations applying for this program must submit a plan to conduct at least one in-person human rights education session per year for both athletes and coaches of their corporate sports teams.

For the 2026 program, the Ministry announced that five popular sports-football, baseball, basketball, volleyball, and golf-will newly be included as eligible for support, with a separate budget of 1 billion won allocated in addition to the existing supported sports. For operational support, teams can apply for between 10 million won and 90 million won per team. The support funds can be used for expenses necessary for team operations, such as training equipment and uniforms, travel expenses for domestic and international training camps and competitions, and the purchase of training apparatus.

The newly introduced “minor sports” operational support category in this year’s program targets sports that, as of 2024, have two or fewer corporate teams nationwide and are deemed strategically important for national development. In 2026, the support scale will be increased from 300 million won to 400 million won, with up to 200 million won available per team. Eligible sports include luge, surfing, snowboarding, ice hockey, inline speed skating, cross-country skiing, and sport climbing. Additionally, “recovery organization” operational support targets organizations that previously operated but suspended activities due to a shortage of athletes or coaches or financial difficulties, and are planning to resume operations in 2026. A total of 200 million won (100 million won per team) will be provided to two such teams.

A policy official from the Ministry stated, “For the 2026 program, we have expanded the budget and included sports eligible for Sports Promotion Voting Rights, thereby broadening the range of support. We will continue to support the stable and sustainable development of the corporate sports team ecosystem by establishing the standard contract system and providing operational support in parallel.”

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