Refer Report
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the golf industry was at its peak as the existing golf population and even those in their 20s and 30s turned to golf courses. According to the Korean Golf Index recently announced by the Korea Golf Association, the number of golfers who participated in golf activities at least once last year reached 6.42 million, or 16.9% of the total population. The size of the domestic golf industry market amounts to 22 trillion won.
During the golf industry’s boom, companies that actively utilized government support projects achieved so-called jackpots. According to the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation on the 29th, the sales of Creates, a company specializing in golf simulators, last year amounted to 56.7 billion won, a 258% increase compared to the sales in 2020 (approximately 15.9 billion won) before participating in the leading company development support project. The Sports Corporation’s support project gave wings to the company’s growth.
Outstanding performance of golf companies participating in support projects
For the growth of the sports industry, the Sports Corporation is carrying out projects across all fields, including corporate growth support, financial support, start-up and job support, and specialized support in the social enterprise field. The amount of support is continuously increasing from 172.6 billion won last year to 263.4 billion won this year and 346.7 billion won next year (based on government plan).
The Sports Corporation explains that among the companies that participated in the support project, companies in the golf field are showing outstanding results in the market. In particular, Creates, which has established itself as one of the top three golf launch monitor brands in the North American market along with Trackman and Foresight, received a commendation from the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism at the 4th graduation ceremony for leading sports industry companies in April. Compared to before participating in the support project, it received high praise for not only achieving rapid sales growth but also creating employment by 176%.
The sports industry leading company development support project is a project to drive the growth of sports companies with international competitiveness through support for business advancement and overseas sales channel development. A total of 58 companies selected so far have received up to 300 million won in support over three years. XGolf, a company that manufactures and sells screen golf simulators, is also one of the companies that benefited from this project. Last year, it recorded sales of 12.9 billion won, showing a growth rate of 153% compared to the sales in 2019 (approximately 5.1 billion won) before participating in the leading company development support project.
The performance of golf companies is also noticeable in the growth support project for small and medium-sized sports companies. This project provides differentiated support of 100 to 150 million won depending on the size of sales to support the leap forward as a small sports company. Fi Networks, a golf simulator manufacturing and sales company that participated in this project in 2021, has grown into a company with sales of more than 8 billion won and has been participating in the upper-level leading company development support project since the following year. Pi Networks achieved achievements such as winning the Innovation Company Award from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups that year.
Encouraging sports companies, including golf, to expand overseas
This year, the Sports Corporation is expanding support to not only foster the golf industry but also strengthen the competitiveness of domestic sports companies, including the establishment of the Global Sports Small Business Support Project, a specialized support project for overseas expansion. Up to 270 million won will be provided annually to the 10 companies selected for strengthening overseas expansion capabilities to carry out export-specific tasks such as developing overseas content and finding buyers, and about 30 companies selected for supporting overseas exhibition participation will receive overseas support. We assist with participation in major and promising exhibitions.
The overseas certification support project for sporting goods is also one of the projects to encourage overseas expansion. Companies selected for the project can receive up to KRW 60 million in support for the costs required to obtain certification by country, such as FCC (American Communications Commission Electromagnetic Compatibility Certification) and Europe’s CE (European Harmonized Regulations Certification). Creates, which also participated in this project, explained, “Through the overseas certification support project, we have been able to reduce the cost burden and meet international standards more efficiently.”
The Sports Corporation plans to accelerate the revitalization of the sports industry by expanding the scale of support projects every year. Cho Hyeon-jae, chairman of the Korea Sports Corporation, said, “Through multifaceted support for the continued growth of the sports industry, we will serve as a catalyst for achieving the size of the sports industry from KRW 78 trillion in 2022 to KRW 105 trillion in 2028.”
Reporter Seo Jae-won jwseo@hankyung.com
Source: Korean