"Securing Diversity of Sports" SOOP Expands Sports Content Through Partnerships With Associations and Federations

[The Financial News] SOOP announced on the 9th that it is expanding its sports content in collaboration with sports associations and federations. As competition over broadcasting rights intensifies among global over-the-top (OTT) media service providers and platform companies, driving up costs, the company is showcasing an operating model that broadens its coverage to sports such as billiards, youth baseball, rugby and lacrosse.
As the chair company of the Korea Billiards Federation (KBF), SOOP has expanded its broadcasting and production scope from comprehensive tournaments to pocket billiards, junior events and amateur competitions. As a result, annual billiards broadcast hours increased from 116 hours in 2024 to 324 hours in 2025, a rise of about 179%. It has also been running its own tournaments, including "Road to UMB."
Since 2022, SOOP has supported broadcast production for the Korea Youth Baseball Federation. Through features such as the "Mobile Scoreboard," which enables broadcasting without separate equipment, parents and officials can watch their children's games in real time and share video clips. The scope of cooperation has also expanded to include hosting the federation's awards ceremonies and parent-streamer meetings at the SOOP studio.
SOOP has maintained a partnership with the Korea Rugby Union (KRU) since 2023 and is reviewing linkage with TV programming. In 2025, it produced and broadcast every match of the World Lacrosse Men's U20 Championship, a first in Korea. The company is also in talks this year to continue its collaboration with the Korea Lacrosse Association (KLA) as a broadcast production partner.
This year, SOOP is participating as a production partner for the National Sports Festival for the Disabled and will handle broadcast production of para sports and league games for the third consecutive year as the official broadcaster designated by the Korea Paralympic Committee (KPC). Following the Paris Paralympic Games, it is providing live coverage of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympic Games as well, marking two consecutive Paralympic broadcasts.
SOOP is also strengthening sport-specific partnerships by signing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreements with the Korea Athletics Federation, the Korea Cycling Federation and others. The company is widening the scope of cooperation to include original content that captures athletes' training processes and interviews during the off-season.
SOOP stated, "These kinds of partnerships go beyond live broadcasts and secure a content channel that can consistently spotlight athletes and their sports."


kaya@fnnews.com Choi Hye-rim Reporter