Gangwon FC barely managed to stay in the K League 1 last year, and while you can't look at the scorecard and smile, the team has achieved 'historic' results in many other areas, including revenue. This is the result of the tireless efforts of Kangwon CEO Kim Byung-ji and his staff.

Compared to 2022, Gangwon's revenue in the 2023 season grew significantly in ticket sales (419%), merchandising business (157%), and transfer fees (818%). Transfer fee revenue was the highest in 15 years since the club was founded in 2008.

In a recent interview with us, Mr. Kim said, "We've been focusing on increasing the price of tickets. We gentrified the outer and upper areas of the stadium and created many special zones. We created a comfortable environment (inside the stadium) and encouraged fans to share their space with their families, lovers, and acquaintances, and the response was quite good."

The key is to increase attendance. In 2023, Gangwon averaged 6462 fans per home game. That's about three times more than in the 2022 season (2165). The reason why more fans came to Gangwon's stadiums than ever before was not only due to the national soccer team's success in international competitions, but also due to the club's aggressive marketing.

For example, in the 2023 season alone, the team will give away three cars (Casper) as home game prizes. These bold investments have paid off. Ticket revenue has increased and MD product sales have increased significantly. CEO Kim Byung-ji said, "I think our marketing strategy has paid off. "We had synergy with the home game business team," says Kim. "The person who picked up the car (at the last home game) was the child's mom. She told me that the family came to the stadium in full uniform. It was a great event. It's a memory (for them) that they'll never forget, and they'll be our customers for life."

Last year's big money maker was the transfer fee. The transfer of Yang Hyun-joon, the club's signature star, to Celtic, helped the club save money. At the time, Kim Byung-ji was in a tug-of-war with Celtic and eventually received 2.75 million euros ($3.93 billion). That's a lot of money considering Celtic had initially offered €2 million ($2.68 billion). It allowed Gangwon to keep Gabriel (Brazil), who played a key role in the second half of the summer transfer window and helped them stay in the top flight. 토토사이트 

Kim Byung-ji, who was criticized for blocking Yang Hyun-joon's overseas challenge, said, "As the president of Gangwon, I had to take care of both the player's growth and the club's interests. It was for Yang's sake, our sake, and Celtic's sake," he explained.

Looking back on the past year, he said he had "achieved great things" and shared his secret: "A positive mindset will eventually make you think and run towards your goals. If you say 'NO' (to something), you will never run."


Of course, it wasn't a year of 100% satisfaction. Kim Byung-ji, who credits the secretariat, cites the turnover of the team's staff as one of his regrets. "I'm very grateful to the staff," he said, "and (this year) I have a reason to empower the staff more than the players. We will do our best to ensure their well-being."

The most important thing to achieve steady performance in many aspects is 'performance'. "By 2024, the squad will be stable. We are always thinking about our performance," said Kim.