When better quality services emerge in free market competition, attention is focused on highly competitive products. The growth of the OTT industry, which had recently soared in popularity, is slowing down. OTT (Over-The-Top) is a service that provides media content to consumers through the Internet, and it had achieved enormous growth during the pandemic due to people spending more time at home. Representatively, Netflix and Watcha have become staples of households around the world. As the pandemic slowly gets resolved, changes have come due to the saturation of competition, lack of content, and expansion of face-to-face culture. What has emerged as a new direction in the OTT industry is "sports broadcasting."

 Son Heung-min's home team Tottenham Hotspur’s visit to Korea is of great interest. Coupang Play, a service of Coupang, hit the jackpot when broadcasting the Spurs game and became recognized as a new OTT service to the public. The exclusive broadcasting of the K League All-Star team and Spain’s La Liga Sevilla FC also received great attention. In particular, the match between Sevilla and Spurs was praised when one reporter asked, "Is it possible to broadcast such a high-quality game in Korea?" The match between Spurs and Sevilla is also drawing keen attention in the European Champions League. The cheers of 110,000 spectators and 3 million at-home viewers left a big impression. Coupang Play's investment in Tottenham broadcasting marked the beginning of a new OTT market.

 OTT is paying attention to sports broadcasting as a new direction for the industry, which has recently become stagnant in growth. The big advantage of sports content is that it has an enormous fan base and low production cost. Therefore, new opportunities are expected in OTT, where content supply and demand is essential. TVING has secured broadcasting rights to UFC and tennis. Also, Netflix, the king of OTT who was not previously interested in sports broadcasting, is also trying to secure F1 broadcasting rights. F1 and tennis are world-famous sports, but in Korea, they are not mainstream attractions except for serious fans. Therefore this might be a new opportunity to experience various sports by accessing them through OTT.

 From a consumer perspective, it is great that content is becoming diverse and rich. The chance to watch Tottenham vs Sevilla play in Korea, not in England or Spain, is rare. Through the Spurs series, many OTT companies, including Coupang Play, have become interested in sports broadcasting. Can sports broadcasting serve as a springboard for growth in the OTT market? Only time will tell.

75th Reporter • KIM YUN JUNG • dbswnd7676@naver.com