Gangwon FC, which managed to stay in the K League 1 last year, cannot be laughed at by looking at its report card, but it has achieved “all-time high” results in other areas, including profits. This is the result of constant head-to-head meetings between Gangwon CEO Kim Byung-ji and his employees.
Compared to 2022, Kang saw remarkable growth in revenue during the 2023 season in terms of admission tickets (419 percent), merchandising business (157 percent), and transfer fees (818 percent). The transfer fee income was the highest ever recorded in 15 years since its foundation in 2008.
“I paid attention to raising the unit price (of tickets). We created many special zones by upgrading the outer and upper areas of the stadium. We created a pleasant environment (in the stadium), allowing fans to share their space with their family members, lovers, and acquaintances, and the response was quite good,” said Kim Byung-ji, CEO of this newspaper.
“The number of spectators increases as expected. The average number of spectators at home games in Gangwon Province in 2023 was 6,462, about three times that of the 2022 season (2,165). More fans visited the stadium in Gangwon Province because the national soccer team performed well at international competitions, but the team’s aggressive marketing played a major role.
For example, he invested generously in marketing by betting three cars (Casper) as prizes for home games in the 2023 season alone. Bold investment has returned to bigger profits. Tickets have increased revenue and merchandise sales have also increased significantly. “I think we have achieved results because we set up a good marketing strategy,” said Kim Byung-ji, CEO of the company.
“There was also synergy with the home game business team,” he said. “The mother of the child was the one who got the car (in the last home game). I heard that the family came to the stadium wearing all their uniforms. It was such a great event. It will be an unforgettable memory for them and will be our customers for the rest of our lives.” 슬롯머신
The transfer fee was one of the reasons that made huge profits last year. The transfer of Yang Hyun-joon, a former star of the club, to Celtic helped the club greatly. Kim Byung-ji, then CEO of the club, secured the final 2.75 million euros (3.94 billion U.S. dollars) after a tug-of-war with Celtic. Considering that Celtic offered the latter 2 million euros (2.868 billion won) in the first place, the amount is a huge amount. As a result, Gangwon was able to embrace Gabriel (Brazil), who played a key role in the second half of the summer transfer market and led the team to stay in the top flight.
“As a member of Kangwon National Team, I had to take care of both the growth of players and the interests of the club. For Yang and us, Celtic had to take profits as well,” said Kim Byung-ji, who was criticized for blocking Yang from playing overseas.
Looking back on the past year, CEO Kim Byung-ji, who was proud to have “achieved the best results ever,” said, “A positive mind eventually makes you think and run toward your goal. If you say ‘no’ (for something), you will never run.”
Of course, it wasn’t a year that I was 100% satisfied with. Kim Byung-ji, who gave the secretariat the credit for, said, “I’m so grateful to the secretariat staff. (This year) I have a reason to give strength to the secretariat staff rather than the team. I will do my best for the welfare of the staff.”
The most important thing to achieve consistent results in various fields is also ‘grade.’ “The squad will stabilize in 2024. I am always thinking about my performance,” said Kim Byung-ji.