By Kim Hyun-bin

A controversy has been growing over the broadcasting rights for the Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) tour, as the bidding conditions offered by the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Tour (KLPGT) appear to favor local broadcaster SBS, which currently holds the broadcasting rights, according to industry watchers, Wednesday.

JTBC Golf sent proof of its content to the KLPGT, which oversees the KLPGA tour, raising issues with the evaluation criteria. CJ's tvN Sports and SPOTV, which have comprehensive sports channels, also both oppose the bidding qualifications, saying, "It is unfair to limit the bid qualifications to golf-specialized channels."

According to KLPGT's bidding conditions, only SBS and JTBC, which have exclusive golf channels, are qualified to take part in the bidding process.

However, the KLPGT rebutted the claims, stating, "The conditions necessary for the mid- to long-term development of Korean womens' golf are not favorable to a specific company."

On July 11, the KLPGT announced it will receive bids for the selection of operators to broadcast the KLPGA tour for five years from next January to the end of 2027, and receive applications through July 29, while the preferred bidder will be selected on Aug. 12.

KLPGA golfer Park Min-ji / Courtesy of KLPGA

The KLPGA tour has grown in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic and has become a highly popular sport no less so than baseball or football in the country. On June 11, the final round of the Korean Women's Open, which featured a tight match between Lim Hee-jeong and Park Min-ji, the leading players of the KLPGA tour, recorded the highest viewer rating of 2.031 percent ― one reason many broadcasters and content companies are keen to obtain the broadcasting rights.

SBS Golf, which currently holds the broadcasting rights, is going all out to win the bid, as, if it loses the rights, it will lose its main content. JTBC Golf has also entered into the bidding. In addition, ACL, which owns SPOTV, and CJ ENM, which owns tvN Sports, are known to be interested. Finally, there are rumors that OTT company Coupang Play is seeking to take part in the bidding process.

JTBC strongly opposes the bidding conditions proposed by the KLPGT. JTBC Golf asserts that the bidding conditions constitute "a standard that is clearly favorable to SBS," because the price (relay fee) ― the most important category to be evaluated ― takes up only 35 percent, while qualitative evaluations such as "KLPGA Tour development direction," account for 65 percent.

"Just as the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) set the proportion of the price evaluation at 60 percent in the 2019 broadcasting rights bidding process, the relay fee in most sports broadcast rights accounts for more than 50 percent of the entire evaluation. KLPGT is causing suspicion as it allows room for the arbitrary selection of a preferred bidder," JTBC Golf said.