Koo Ja-cheol, chairman of the Korea Professional Golf Association (KPGA), expressed his will for a second term, saying, “I want to focus on strengthening internal stability,” going beyond the quantitative growth of the association, which he had focused on during his tenure.
Chairman Koo held a press conference at a restaurant near Gwanghwamun, Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 14th and said, “We have focused on quantitative growth to revive KPGA, which was in a difficult situation.” I want to draw a bigger picture,” he said.
Specifically, he presented an aspiration to create a sketch that promotes the overall development of KPGA, not limited to the tour, such as fostering youth, expanding selections, and strengthening lesson programs.
He took office as the 18th president of KPGA in January 2020, and his four-year term ends at the end of this year. After Koo took office, the association’s total prize money and number of competitions increased significantly. This year’s Korean Tour is scheduled to be held on the largest scale ever with 25 tournaments and a total prize pool of more than 25 billion won. Except for 2020, which was hit directly by Corona 19, all of these scales increased rapidly during the tenure of Chairman Koo. In 2021, 17 competitions and total prize money of 15.6 billion won were held, and last year, 21 competitions and 20.3 billion won were held, respectively.
KPGA also designated INNOCEAN and SBS Media Net as preferred negotiation partners and is negotiating for new broadcasting rights. KPGA estimates that the value of the new broadcasting rights will exceed 6 billion won per year, and a total of 30 billion won over 5 years. Kim Byung-joon, CEO of the Korea Professional Golf Tour (KGT), explained, “The value of the contract for the new relay rights is the monetary conversion of the event attraction and resale revenue.”
At the end of this month, it plans to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour so that players active in Korea can have an opportunity to enter the PGA Tour through the Korean Tour and strengthen their global competitiveness. 토토사이트
Chairman Koo, the chairman of Yesco Holdings, became the third businessperson to serve as the head of the KPGA, following the late first chairman Heo Jeong-gu and the 12th and 13th chairman Park Sam-koo. Since taking office, he has been looking for companies to attract tournament sponsors, and in 2020, when 7 tournaments were canceled due to Corona 19, he poured out his affection by appearing with his own resources and creating new tournaments.
Ultimately, it is his wish to strengthen the competitiveness of domestic men’s golf and to develop ‘brand power’. Chairman Koo emphasized, “The KPGA tour has been OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) that relied on title sponsors until now. did.