Exclusive: Are These Really Pro Clubs? 64% of Revenue for Regional Clubs Comes From Taxes

[Anchor]

The structural problems behind the decline of South Korean football following the North and Central American World Cup are being laid bare. One of the root causes is the shaky ecosystem of professional football, which should serve as the foundation. According to an exhaustive survey of professional football clubs conducted by SBS, the vast majority are professional clubs in name only, and are virtually impossible to operate without massive tax support.

First, an exclusive report by reporter Lee Jeong-Chan.

[Reporter]

The K League, South Korea's professional football league, currently consists of a total of 29 teams across the first and second divisions. Among them, 17 teams are so-called regional citizen-backed clubs supported by local governments.

Criticism has continually been raised that these regional clubs rely on subsidies funded by local government taxes rather than their own revenue. However, an exhaustive survey by SBS revealed that the situation is far more severe than expected.

Analyzing the financial data of 14 clubs, excluding three newly joined teams this year, these 14 teams received a total of 140.1 billion won in subsidies from local governments last year, accounting for 64% of their total revenue.

Among them, only three clubs—Gangwon, Daegu, and Incheon, which have longer histories and operate in the form of joint-stock corporations—had their own revenues exceeding their subsidies.

Except for these three, the subsidy dependency rate of the remaining 11 teams reaches 73.4%, and even if the independent revenues of all 11 teams are combined, it is less than the independent revenues of the three clubs: Gangwon, Daegu, and Incheon.

What is even more serious is that this level of subsidies is not even enough for the survival of the regional clubs.

Paju faced the crisis of unpaid wages from the very first year of its professional transition, while Gimhae stood at a crossroads of survival after recording only two wins in its debut season.

[Jung Young-du / Mayor of Gimhae: If we determine that there is neither financial sustainability nor public significance, I will have no choice but to make a decision as the club owner.]

Gimpo, where an accounting staff member was arrested over suspicions of embezzling around 8 billion won, is surviving by plugging its financial holes with supplementary budgets.

Comparison is meaningless with major European leagues that operate professionally based on sponsorship revenue, ticket and merchandise sales, and broadcasting rights fees. It also stands in stark contrast to domestic professional baseball, which has increased its self-sustainability by reducing the proportion of parent company support funds from 41% in 2018 to 25% last year.

(Video by Yoo Dong-hyuk and Hwang In-seok | Video Editing by Lee Jae-sung | Graphics by Lim Chan-hyuk)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.