Financial firms bet big on sports marketing

Basketball players play in a match between Bucheon Hana 1 Q and Incheon Shinhan Bank during the Women's Korean Basketball League 2023-2024 season held at Bucheon Gymnasium on Feb. 26. Yonhap

Major financial groups have become strong sponsors for various sports in the country, leading to successful marketing campaigns and remarkable performances by sponsored teams or individual athletes at international sports competitions.

The sponsorship offered by financial giants covers a wide variety of sports, from less popular ones such as wrestling, shooting, handball and track and field, to highly popular ones like basketball and sport climbing.

Woori Bank's promotional image celebrating the Asan Woori Won's winning of the 2023-24 WKBL Championship last month / Courtesy of Woori Bank

The Women's Korean Basketball League, for instance, is where the presence of financial groups is most pronounced.

All six teams in the country receive sponsorship from financial companies, including KB Kookmin Bank Stars, Shinhan Bank S-Birds, Hana 1 Q, Woori Bank Woori Won, BNK SUM and Samsung Life Blueminx.

Due to the majority of sponsors being banks and financial holding companies, women's professional basketball is sometimes referred to as the "financial holdings league."

While Woori Bank participated as a lead sponsor in the women's basketball league for the 2023-2024 season, Shinhan Bank has stepped up as the title sponsor for the H League, the country's professional handball league, which was launched in November last year.

Besides handball, Shinhan Financial Group has been strengthening its sponsorship of various sports, such as table tennis, gymnastics, hockey, sport climbing and snowboarding, aiming to solidify the base of amateur sports and foster balanced sports development in the country.

Specifically, the group has been running the Shinhan Rookie Sponsorship program, which focuses on discovering promising young athletes. One notable beneficiary of this program is Shin Yu-bin, a table tennis player whom Shinhan has sponsored since the age of 14. She won a gold medal and three bronze medals in the women's doubles event at the Asian Games in Hangzhou last year.

"Shinhan Financial Group will continue to actively support athletes so that they can pursue higher dreams and dedicate themselves to sports," an official from the financial group said.

Hana Card's special edition card / Courtesy of Hana Card

Likewise, KB Financial Group has been sponsoring 10 sports, such as swimming, artistic gymnastics, track and field, figure skating, badminton and canoeing. The financial group currently supports nine national sports teams as well as 21 athletes.

Hana Financial Group established the Hana Pay billiards team affiliated with the country's Professional Billiards Association (PBA) back in 2022.

Since the team won the 2023-2024 season PBA Team League in January this year, Hana Card launched the Wonder Hana Pay Billiards Team Special Edition card in February to commemorate the victory of the professional billiard team.

Woori Financial Group, meanwhile, has been sponsoring the Woori Bank Woori Won Women's Shooting Team, since 1978, boasting a long history of sponsorship and tradition.