KOREAN NET

A b-boy performs on Nov. 17, 2024, in the final of the '24 Breaking K Series at SBS Prism Tower in Seoul's Mapo-gu District. (Korean Federation of Dancesport)

By Charles Audouin

The domestic sports industry in 2023 surpassed KRW 81 trillion in revenue, up 3.7% from the previous year, with the number of employees rising 4.1% to 458,000 and that of businesses growing 4.6% to 126,186.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Jan. 8 said this in releasing the results of a 2023 survey on the sector targeting 14,000 related businesses.

Sales of sports products rose 4.7% led by growth in distribution such as online sales, wholesale of sports shoes, and retail sales of game and sports items. The manufacturing of sports and athletic equipment, camping textile products and sports shoes also rose.

Sales in the sports service sector rose 3.9%, with growth seen in games of pro sports like baseball and soccer, educational institutions, tourism and martial arts training centers. The highest growth came from the sports agent sector with 25%.

Tennis and table tennis courts, leisure boat mooring spots and recreational fishing boats showed the highest growth among sports facilities. Gyms, swimming pools and golf ranges also showed higher revenue, fueling the sector's overall sales growth of 2%.

The ministry will boost support for the industry to upscale the market to KRW 105 trillion by 2028. To achieve this goal, it will raise loan support to KRW 248 billion this year and promote participation in overseas exhibitions, raise funds for exporters and back global broadcasting for promising sport companies.

"Attendance at pro sports games has expanded as the number of spectators at pro baseball games last year broke 10 million, and public participation in sports activities nationwide has kept growing since the COVID-19 pandemic ended," the ministry said. "Fees for using swimming pools and gyms from July will be tax deductible, thus higher public participation in sports and further growth of related industries are expected."

caudouin@korea.kr