The broadcasting right of the men’s professional golf tournament organized by the Korea Professional Golf Tour (KGT) has fallen into a ‘cold meal’. This is because broadcasting companies that want to buy broadcasting rights show a cold reaction안전놀이터. Analysts say that the root cause of the trouble was that he rejected an offer to pay 12 billion won for broadcasting for five years and entered into an open bidding. In the golf industry, “KGT attempted an open bidding with the expectation of 30 billion won, but it is in a situation where it cannot receive even the 12 billion won it originally secured, let alone 30 billion won.” am.
JTBC abandons bidding for broadcasting rightsAccording to the industry on the 23rd, only two broadcasters participated in KGT’s bidding for broadcasting rights. The only companies that submitted documents for the first screening were the SBS Medianet-Innocean consortium and Acla Entertainment, which owns the SPOTV golf channel. JTBC Plus (golf), MBC Plus, and CJ ENM did not even submit applications.
The company that drew the most attention during the KGT broadcasting rights bidding phase was JTBC Plus. JTBC Plus, which had been broadcasting for 1.8 billion won for the past 5 years, attempted a preferential negotiation with KGT, saying that it would pay 12.5 billion won for a new 5 years. Although they made a ‘bet’ in their own way to pay 2.5 billion won a year, KGT rejected JTBC Plus’ offer and decided on an open bidding. JTBC has been broadcasting men’s professional golf tournaments for 20 years since 2004.
An official in the golf broadcasting industry said, “The men’s golf tournament has much lower viewership than the women’s tournament, so if you throw away 2.5 billion won a year in broadcasting fees, there is a high possibility that it will be a ‘losing business’ considering the expected revenue from advertising.” He added, “JTBC Plus was forced to offer a price to compete with SBS Medianet, a competitor, but in the end, it seems that KGT made a regrettable decision.”
In the broadcasting industry, it is evaluated that KGT watched the war to secure relay rights in the Korea Women’s Professional Golf Tour (KLPGT) too much for themselves. At the time, JTBC also said it would offer 85 billion won (75 billion won for 5 years + 10 billion won for development fund) for a 5-year contract. In the end, SBS Medianet, which paid a lower amount (60 billion won), won the broadcasting right, but what happened in women’s golf instilled awareness that the value of the golf broadcasting right was not insignificant. This is the reason why there was a voice inside KGT saying, ‘I need to get 30 billion won’.
Currently, the KGT is known to be in great perplexity, such as holding an emergency meeting. This is because as JTBC Plus withdrew its hands, the need for SBS Medianet and Acla Entertainment to have a ‘money party’ decreased. An official from a broadcasting company participating in the bidding commented, “It’s like there’s no goalkeeper in the goal.” He said, “SBS Medianet has already secured the KLPGA tour broadcasting rights, and this bidding has a strong nature to participate in the bid to check JTBC Plus.” I don’t think I’m going to pay a high price.” KGT plans to go through the second screening (presentation) on the 27th and notify the preferred bidder on the 28th.
Why men’s golf is so popularThe reason JTBC, which broadcast men’s professional golf for five years, decided to give up the bid was because it was too unpopular. Domestic professional golf is running counter to the trend of male-dominated professional sports in the world. There is even a saying that ‘Korea’s golf is the only professional sport in which women’s events surpass men’s in popularity’.
The difference in popularity between male and female golf is also reflected in viewership ratings. According to Nielsen Korea, an audience rating research company last year, the average viewer rating of the KLPGA tour was 0.467%, overwhelming the men’s Korean tour’s 0.133%. The Korean Tour also trailed the LPGA Tour (0.212%) by nearly 0.8 percentage points. During last year’s season, the number of visitors to live broadcasts conducted on portal sites differed by nearly 10 times for each competition.
Domestic golf experts cite the absence of a star as the biggest reason. Since 2007, when the point system started, the Korean Tour has had different grand prize winners except once (Choi Jin-ho, 2016/2017). There are also people who bring up the issue of military service. It is because there is bound to be a gap in the process of growing into a star. One Korean Tour player insisted, “You should consider enlisting in the military in your mid-20s, when your skills are on the rise.”
The perception of golf fans also keeps them away from men’s golf. An official from the management industry said, “Galleries looking for women’s competitions have an eye toward the players as if they were ‘celebrities’.” ”he said.