"I want to complete the K-League team model."
Kim Kwang-guk (58), CEO of K League 1's "Dynasties Corps" Ulsan HD, is a representative long-lived CEO of professional sports in Korea beyond professional football. He took the helm of Ulsan's front office at the end of 2014, and took the lead in opening the second heyday of the Tiger Corps with three consecutive losses until last year.
Ulsan has become the top-ranked team in both box office performance and marketing strategies that break the limits of provincial teams. Last year, Ulsan attracted 353,615 spectators at 19 home games, surpassing 300,000 for the second consecutive year. The team garnered 5.8 billion won (5.12 million dollars) in ticket sales and sponsorship revenue, respectively. It also acquired F&B business rights from the Korea Facilities Management Corporation to earn 400 million won (46 million dollars). Its total sales including marketing revenue of 12 billion won (48 million dollars). It exceeded the average sales of the top 20 Japanese J-League teams, which are known as East Asian models.
"When I took office in late 2014, I had only 400 million tickets," said Kim, who recently had a New Year's interview with Sports Seoul to mark the "乙巳 Year" in 2025. "Our slogan has always been 'My Team Ulsan' for the past 10 years consistently. It was to make everyone recognize that I am on my team, but I feel great that I am at the level of competing with the J-League club." "When I first joined the club, I went to the CEO Academy run by the Korea Professional Football League. Japan's marketing practices were the main focus of education," Kim said. "Since then, I have felt that the most important thing for a general manager or representative is not to recruit and win players, but to attract sponsors and provide fan services first. I wanted to see people wearing our uniforms from all over the city someday, and I feel proud as a representative because I feel like such a world has finally arrived."
He suggested adventurous marketing that broke down prejudice as a way to succeed. "He asked us to create a model unique to our employees and the K-League from the beginning of our tenure. First of all, we need to trust our gut feeling and move on," Kim said. "There is a limit to sales (home games) for about 20 times."
Last year, Ulsan opened its first collaboration store with the GS25 and K-League, and set up an MD store in Up Square in its region, continuously making profit from trend-setting products. It also set up a pop-up store in the Hyundai-Seoul area, attracting attention with nearly 100 million sales. "What's important is that we should not be the only ones taking such chances. We used to take (other) team's representatives to the GS25 on purpose during the meeting of representatives. We will open (all major marketing strategies)," Kim said, stressing the overall boom in the league.
Another club also hoped that the head of the front office would encourage the head of the front office to incorporate his experience into the administration. "I think if I had only done it for two to three years and left, I would have done nothing," Kim said. "Just as the head coach of the team needs time, so does the head of the front office," he said. "There are a lot of things I can see as the years pile up. At some point, it creates an explosive power. I hope the atmosphere will be created to create something meaningful based on the experiences of key administrative leaders." 스포츠토토
Under Kim Pan-gon in the new season, Ulsan will draw four consecutive league wins as well as a good performance at the Club World Cup. "It is important to get a title, but I will create a performance that gives all fans hope for joy and something to see," CEO Kim said. "Please trust and support me a lot."