Turning Point of Sports Industry

 

 written by 20207 Kim Jun Woo

 

COVID-19 is coming to an end these days, however its substantial impact on our society still continues. The sports industry is one of the spheres which has received the significant effect of COVID-19. 

It directly influences sports institutions, professional sports teams and sports fans which are three main components of the sports industry. Most of all, sports teams’ ways of making a profit and communicating with their supporters have shifted a lot in comparison with before COVID-19.

 

Before COVID-19, the sports industry’s main source of revenue was commercial and high ticket prices. However, lots of nations began to prohibit or regulate the number of sports spectators to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

 

For instance, the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) league allowed only 20% of the entire seats in the stadium for a year, 2021. As a result, the number of spectators declined from 8.4 million to 1.2 million. It indicates that ticket price lost its proportion in the rate of whole profit. 

Instead, online sports platform users skyrocketed after COVID-19. 

One sports platform SPOTV NOW ranked at the top user surging list in August 2022. It represents that sports fans enjoy sports via digital devices rather than attending a stadium, and it leads to the positive development of sports broadcasting systems such as the metaverse. 

 

Not only the method of enjoying sports but also the type of popular sports has been changed. 

While soccer or baseball fans declined during COVID-19 the pandemic, E-Sports fans increased highly. For example, one of the E-Sports championships, the League of Legends Championship of Korea (LCK), had 71% greater success than before the pandemic. Its characteristics that access easily anywhere could let people enjoy it despite COVID-19. 

To adapt to these new circumstances, the sports industry has to change its strategy. They better revitalize various online platforms and invest in new fields, E-Sports. It is an awesome opportunity to lead lots of new people to the sports industry, so sports institutions and professional sports teams should catch it to flourish in sports.