The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister Yoo In-chon, hereafter referred to as the Ministry) and the Seoul Olympic Memorial National Sports Promotion Foundation (Chairman Ha Hyung-joo, hereafter referred to as the Sports Foundation) opened the expanded and restructured 'Sports Korea Lab' (SKL, Sports Korea Lab) at Olympic Park in Seoul on the afternoon of the 19th.
The 'Sports Korea Lab' is a comprehensive support platform for sports corporations, providing residency space, exhibition and experiential areas, incubation programs, job information, and technology development. It is comprised of a total of four buildings, including two corporation support centers and two exhibition and experiential centers, with a total area of 6,220 square meters.
There are four major changes resulting from the opening of the 'Sports Korea Lab.' First, the number of residency spaces for startup corporations has significantly increased from 24 to 44, ensuring stable growth. A shared office space with 54 seats has been newly established to allow small startups to freely utilize office space. To support the practical growth of corporations, tailored incubation programs in legal, accounting, marketing, and investment attraction will operate year-round based on demand surveys.
Second, to facilitate smoother connections between sports corporations and job seekers, the 'Sports Industry Job Center' has been relocated within the corporation support center. This will strengthen the functions of the Job Center and expand specialized programs for resident corporations, such as operational booths for resident corporations at job fairs and one-day experiences for job seekers at resident corporations.
Third, a systematic 'growth ladder' has been established to ensure that startup corporations can continuously grow by strengthening the links between the 'Sports Korea Lab' and other corporation support projects. To facilitate this, corporations that achieve excellent results in the Sports Foundation's startup idea contest will be granted priority residency rights in the 'Sports Korea Lab', and when resident corporations demonstrate increases in sales and job creation, they will receive extra points when applying for future lead company support projects.
Fourth, various events are planned to make the exhibition and experiential center a more attractive open space. Sports stars will hold lectures and fan meetings, and shiny pop-up shops promoting outstanding products from corporations will also be operated. Special exhibitions to showcase innovative products and technologies from resident corporations will be held regularly to actively support the market development and brand recognition of sports corporations.
A policy official from the Ministry noted, 'After the opening of the 'Content Korea Lab' in 2014 and the 'Art Korea Lab' in 2023, we opened the 'Sports Korea Lab' in 2025 to help the startup and growth of sports corporations. I hope the 'Sports Korea Lab' will serve as a stepping stone to promote the growth and innovation of sports corporations and support their entry into the global market.' He added, 'The Ministry plans to actively support the sports industry's revenue to increase from 81 trillion won in 2023 to 105 trillion won by 2028, establishing it as a future growth engine for South Korea.'
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