'The Trap of Introduction' Sports Broadcasting Rights, Dangerous Investments to Live the Future

*This content was translated by AI.

There is a Chinese idiom that refers to buying rice paddies that have not yet been ripe in advance. "Adoption of 稻 買". It may seem like a long-term perspective in that it is an act of investing in advance in anticipation of future harvests, but on the other hand, it is also a risky choice to bet on an unverified future.

The sports broadcasting rights market is a typical example of this entry-level sale. Mega events such as the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup will be traded seven to eight years before the tournament is held, or as early as 10 years ago. There are numerous variables such as future political and economic conditions, whether star players are injured, the performance of the national team, and changes in the viewing environment, but broadcasters risk uncertainty and pay huge amounts. If you succeed, you will get a big profit, but if you fail, you will have to bear a fatal loss.

The French broadcaster TF1's choice in the 2002 World Cup Korea-Japan shows its danger. TF1 invested a huge amount of money believing in the memory of its national team winning the 1998 World Cup in France. However, just before the tournament, the French national team was eliminated from the group stage along with the injury of "signal star" Zinedine Zidane, leading to the broadcast of only three games of the national team's World Cup, which was expected to reach the final. As a result, TF1 suffered a huge loss of about 18 million euros (about 30.3 billion won), and was on the verge of bankruptcy. It was a painful price for optimistically predicting the future along with the unexpected variable of player injury.

On the contrary, there is also unexpected luck. The competition chosen by South Korea's "Figure Queen" Kim Yu-na to return to injury in 2013 was not an official International Skating Union (ISU) competition, but a small international competition called "Golden Spin of Zagreb" in Croatia. Originally, the price of broadcasting rights was about $10,000 (about 14.29 million won), but the story changed as soon as the name "Kim Yu-na" was added. Korean broadcasters have entered the competition and prices have soared more than 20 times. A Croatian broadcaster said with a smile, "Thanks to Korea, I made unexpected profits." As such, the value of sports broadcasting rights is greatly influenced not only by performance but also by unpredictable factors such as star quality, narrative, and social interest.

The recent domestic situation also shows the risk of such particle size sales again. JTBC exclusively broadcasted the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics this month, but it was criticized for limiting access to viewers and weakening the social sharing of sports amid the absence of terrestrial broadcasting. In the end, it failed to make a profit and failed to make a box office hit.

And now 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup, which opens in June, is another test.

The problem is the price. Although it is not officially known, JTBC is expected to have invested at least 200 billion won in this World Cup, including broadcasting rights and production costs. Although online broadcasting rights have been sold to Naver, many analysts say that the profit structure is never easy considering the size of the current Korean advertising market. If the "success scenario" in which the Korean national team's performance is above the quarterfinals or the semifinals does not materialize, the return on investment may become more difficult.

JTBC is negotiating resale with three terrestrial broadcasters to reduce losses, but it is struggling. Terrestrial broadcasters are also worried. Broadcasting the World Cup, which has high public interest, is of great public interest, but it is in a dilemma as to whether it is reasonable to participate even at the risk of tens of billions of won in losses. Although the government and regulatory agencies emphasize universal viewing rights and induce participation, compulsory participation ignoring market logic is not easy in reality.

After all, the current situation is the aftermath brought about by the pre-sale of mouth. JTBC paid a high price, optimistic about the future, but it is structurally unreasonable for the entire market to share the risk. Exclusive broadcasting makes it difficult to create the heat of a sports festival, but you can't ask other broadcasters to bear the loss.

Broadcasting rights business is, after all, a matter of balance. Affordable prices, risk management, and cooperative structures must come together. What is needed now is not who wins or loses, but finding a smart solution between the public interest of the sport and the reality of the broadcasting industry. Broadcasters, the government, and related organizations should all find a cool yet flexible solution so as not to repeat the trial and error revealed at the Milan Winter Olympics. But it's a pity that we don't have much time left. Again, fans can be the biggest victims.

Living in the future in advance is not in itself a fault. However, it would be a real investment to calculate to the end who will be burdened by the future and who will be the opportunity.

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*This content was translated by AI.