Concerns became reality.
It started off ambitiously, but it didn’t last even one season. Day One Sports, the operator of professional basketball Carrot, is negotiating to sell the basketball team. An official from Day One Sports said on the 8th, “We are negotiating a takeover with a company. There are positive stories coming and going.” It is known that they are discussing in the direction of saving both the Carrot club and Day One Sports, which is the operator, rather than simply selling the basketball team. It has been six months since the foundation ceremony was held in August of last year. Some point out that “we have to consider the worst case scenario.”
◆ Cracks from the start
Day One Sports ambitiously jumped into the world of professional basketball ahead of this season. After the 2021-2022 season, Orion, which gave up operation, was acquired and refounded. ‘Basketball President’ Heo Jae, former national team coach, was put forward as co-CEO, drawing great attention. Day One Sports, a corporation with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering as its parent company, was in charge of operating the club, and Carrot Insurance served as the naming sponsor. In front of the new starting line, CEO Heo Jae said, “There are concerns that it won’t last long, but I will work hard, so please watch over me.”
The joy that the 10 club system has been maintained is also short-lived. Suspicious eyes rolled over. It creaked from the start. Above all, there was great anxiety about ‘financial stability’. This is the reason why it suffered an incident that was put on hold during the new member company registration review conducted in June of last year. Not only was there a lack of concrete grounds for the fund management plan, but it also failed to give trust in terms of financial continuity and transparency. In the end, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering was able to get approval from KBL only after submitting documents to guarantee support.
◆ On the edge of the brink,
financial problems constantly rose to the surface. Day One Sports had a hard time even paying the special membership fee, which is equivalent to the membership fee. Originally, the first installment (500 million won out of 1.5 billion won) was supposed to be paid by September 30, but the date was continuously postponed. Even when the opening media day was held on the 11th, it was unpaid 바카라. Eventually, KBL held an emergency board meeting and issued an ultimatum to disallow participation in regular games if the deposit was not made by 12:00 noon on October 13. Recognizing the seriousness of the situation, Day One Sports managed to pay on the 12th.
The deterioration of the management of the parent company was also added. Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering recently entered court receivership due to serious business difficulties. In fact, it is difficult to support the basketball team. Day One Sports failed to pay the players and front desk wages on time this month as well as in January. An official explained, “The management has been running around and raising funds somehow, but we have decided that we cannot continue to operate like this.”
It is a mountain beyond a mountain. Day One Sports must pay the balance of 1 billion won in special dues by the end of March. It is doubtful whether he will be able to pay it on time as he is being pushed back to the salaries of the players. In the worst case, it may affect the schedule of the playoffs (PO · PO). A KBL official said, “We are closely monitoring the situation. We are looking for alternatives internally,” he said. The pain in the heart of the members is bound to intensify. Even in the chaotic atmosphere, Carrot has come together as one, and as of the 8th, it has recorded 20 wins and 19 losses, and is in 5th place.