JoongAng Group’s liquidity crisis is a disaster caused not only by poor management, but also by the ‘winner’s curse’ of failing to read the rapid changes in the media market. In order to strengthen its content competitiveness, led by JTBC, JoongAng Group has poured hundreds of billions of won into monopolizing the broadcasting rights for large-scale sports events such as the World Cup and Olympics in North and Central America. However, amid the rapid growth of OTT platforms and the overall slump in the advertising market, these massive investments returned as a boomerang, shaking the entire financial structure of the group. In the end, starting with JTBC's declaration of default, key affiliates such as JoongAng Holdings, Content Tree Central, and Megabox have filed for rehabilitation procedures one after another, and serious confusion is occurring internally, such as the suspension of use of corporate cards by group executives and employees.

This incident clearly shows how dangerous the excessive expansion of a media group's business can lead to. In particular, JoongAng Group tried to overcome the crisis by lending funds and providing collateral between affiliates, but accumulated operating losses and a decline in credit rating did not allow this. JoongAng Group Vice Chairman Hong Jeong-do bowed his head in a press conference and promised employment stability and normalization, but it is already too late to restore market trust. In particular, the situation in which companies handling public assets such as broadcasting have their management rights threatened due to financial instability is leading to concerns about our overall media environment. In some quarters, this crisis is raising fundamental doubts about whether broadcasters will be able to carry out their public responsibilities without interruption.

Meanwhile, another type of tragedy is unfolding inside the stadium. It is pointed out that the ‘hydration break’ introduced by FIFA to protect the health of players is effectively turning into advertising time for broadcasters, completely disrupting the flow of soccer. This system, which was originally an exceptional measure to protect players during the heat wave, has become mandatory for this tournament regardless of temperature, and broadcasters are taking advantage of these three minutes to make huge advertising profits. Fans are dissatisfied with the disruption in the flow of the game, and even miss crucial scoring opportunities due to extended commercials. This hinders the ‘immersion’ that is the essence of sports and makes it difficult to avoid criticism that it is transforming soccer into commercial content in the form of four quarters.

This phenomenon clearly reveals the side effects that occur when the sports media industry combines with extreme capitalism. Due to the nature of the World Cup, where advertising prices are extremely high, broadcasters are repeatedly choosing to prioritize advertisers' profits over viewers' viewing rights. Even documentary directors and soccer figures criticize this phenomenon, lamenting that money-making is harming the purity of sports. On the one hand, the World Cup still exerts a huge influence on our daily lives, to the extent that even the personal stories of fans who are overly immersed in soccer have become hot topics. However, the fact that this enormous influence is not being used in the right direction and is being stained by corporate insolvency and commercial greed leaves a bitter aftertaste in us.