How Shoot for Love Became a 20 Billion Won Sports Media Company
Key Takeaways
- · 슛포러브 운영사 비카인드는 지난해 매출 200억 원을 기록하며 스포츠계 삼프로TV로 불리고 국내 VC 러브콜을 받고 있습니다 (서울경제 보도)
- · 매출 급증의 동력은 유튜브 광고가 아니라 OGFC 레전드 매치 관중 3.8만 명, 아이콘매치 등 오프라인 이벤트 주관입니다
- · 2014년 소아암 기부 챌린지에서 출발한 기부 서사가 레전드 섭외력과 브랜드 신뢰로 되돌아오는 구조입니다
- · Dhesy 집계 협업 상위 파트너는 JTBC 16건, 치지직 10건, 기아 8건이며 최근 90일 업로드 200편 중 광고 영상은 46편입니다
- · 가져갈 교훈은 규모가 아니라 콘텐츠 IP, 오프라인 이벤트, 투자 유치로 이어지는 전환 순서입니다
"20 billion won in revenue last year, emerging as the Sampro TV of sports." That was the headline Seoul Economic Daily ran in October 2025 about Bekind, the company behind the football channel Shoot for Love. A football entertainment channel with 1.85 million subscribers has grown into a company courted by Korean venture capital. It all started in 2014 as a charity challenge raising treatment funds for children with cancer. The conventional wisdom that a YouTube channel earns money only through ad revenue and sponsorships cannot explain this growth path.
A Number That Ad Revenue Alone Cannot Explain
Seoul Economic Daily's report answered the revenue question up front: the surge came not from YouTube ad revenue but from hosting large-scale events such as the Icon Match. The channel's baseline metrics come first.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Subscribers | 1.85M |
| Total videos | 2,328 |
| Uploads, last 90 days | 200 |
| Sponsored videos, last 90 days | 46 |
| Channel launched | June 2014 |
Based on Dhesy data as of July 22, 2026. Two hundred uploads and 46 sponsored videos in 90 days is no small operation, but those numbers alone do not produce 20 billion won. The answer lies outside the channel - in stadiums and platforms.
It Started as a Pediatric Cancer Charity Challenge in 2014
Shoot for Love's original form was not a revenue model but a charity campaign. Every time a participant scored a penalty kick, a donation was added, and the money went to treatment costs for children with cancer. Herald-affiliated outlet YouTuviewers called it football's answer to the Ice Bucket Challenge.
The participant list shows the campaign's weight class. Ahn Jung-hwan, Song Chong-gug, Ki Sung-yueng, and Son Heung-min took part, joined by international stars like Patrice Evra and Raul Gonzalez. In 2015, Evra nominated Yoo Jae-suk and the Running Man cast as the next participants, spreading the campaign beyond sports. The foreshadowing of legends lining up to appear on this channel a decade later starts here.
The Channel Feeding Headlines Right After the World Cup
In June and July 2026, Shoot for Love videos were a supply line for sports media headlines. In a video released on July 2, Ki Sung-yueng spoke about Son Heung-min's late-night emergency room visit during the 2015 Asian Cup and the football association's administrative failures, prompting wide media coverage. On July 18, near the end of the World Cup, Ki's comments on national team accountability, made on this channel, made the news again.
A group-stage finale review video with Ku Ja-cheol and Seol Ki-hyeon, released on June 25, recorded 1.8 million views.
Park Ji-sung's rewatch of the 2010 South Africa World Cup with Bae Sung-jae came out in the same window. As covered in how Korean YouTube moved during the World Cup, the tournament boost was open to every football channel, but few channels can secure on-the-record remarks from former national team players. The legend-interview IP is this channel's core asset.
Events, Not Ads, Drove the Revenue Growth
The growth driver Seoul Economic Daily identified is offline event hosting. The flagship case is OGFC. Shoot for Love founded the independent team OGFC with Park Ji-sung and Manchester United legends including Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra, and the legend match against Suwon Samsung on April 19, 2026 drew a crowd of 38,000. All proceeds were donated to the Korea Childhood Leukemia Foundation. One blog analysis estimated ticket sales at roughly 2.1 billion won and merchandise at around 450 million won.
The legends' visit to Korea was turned into the OG Tour series, whose first episode recorded 1.81 million views.
Laying out the channel's milestones in order makes the turning point visible.
| Period | Milestone | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| June 2014 | Channel launch, charity challenge begins | Fundraising for children with cancer |
| August 2018 | Haitai Bavamba collaboration reported | 640K subscribers at the time |
| October 2025 | Seoul Economic Daily revenue report | 20B won revenue last year |
| April 2026 | OGFC vs Suwon Samsung legend match | 38,000 attendance |
| June 2026 | Official Chzzk World Cup watch-party partner | 1.85M subscribers |
While subscribers grew from 640 thousand to 1.85 million, the revenue center of gravity moved from on-screen ads to the stadium.
The Channel That Platforms and Brands Approach First
During the 2026 World Cup, Naver's Chzzk streamed every match live and named Shoot for Love an official watch-party partner. The city of Suwon selected the channel, alongside KBS, for tourism promotion. Behind this pull is an accumulated collaboration track record.
In Dhesy's collaboration data for Shoot for Love, the top partners are JTBC with 16 collaborations, Chzzk with 10, and Kia with 8. Gatorade follows with 2, and CU, CJ CheilJedang, Nexon, Saily, NordVPN, and Lotte Chilsung Beverage each have 1. Of 200 uploads in the last 90 days, 46 were sponsored videos.
슛포러브 협업 건수 상위 브랜드 (Dhesy 집계)
* Source: Dhesy
The relationship with Haitai goes back to the 2018 Bavamba collaboration, reported when the channel had 640 thousand subscribers. In this year's World Cup warm-up broadcast, Park Ji-sung and Bae Sung-jae hosted a 2010 World Cup highlights watch-party on the Chzzk channel together with Bavamba. A portfolio spanning broadcasters, platforms, automakers, and food companies looks less like buying ad slots and more like buying access to legend IP and a charity narrative.
How a Charity Mission Converts into Casting Power
Google's YouTube Impact Report 2025 named Shoot for Love a leading example of a creator's idea expanding into high-value industries and brands, and Forbes Korea's coverage of the report put the channel back in the spotlight.
On Naver Knowledge-iN, users ask why so many famous players keep appearing on this channel. Much of the answer lies in a donation track record built over more than a decade. A format where completing a mission triggers a donation is easy for players to justify, and low-risk for clubs, associations, and brands. The social-enterprise identity works as a commercial asset that lowers casting barriers. That is why charity is this company's moat, not its cost.
After the VC Calls: The Path Creators Can Learn From
The path Shoot for Love demonstrates comes down to three steps: build IP with content, convert the IP into offline event revenue, and use that track record to raise investment. Per Seoul Economic Daily, Korean VC interest is ongoing.
The counterargument is just as clear. The 20 billion won rests on a decade of accumulated charitable trust and the casting power of players like Park Ji-sung and Ki Sung-yueng. Large offline events carry heavy cost structures, profitability is still being proven, and ordinary creators cannot replicate the scale as-is. What is worth taking is not the scale but the sequence - starting by defining what repeatable offline asset your own channel could build.
Even after the World Cup boost fades, OGFC legend matches and Icon Match-style events look set to become regular fixtures. If the VC courtship turns into an announced funding round, the channel-IP-to-event-company playbook is likely to spread to verticals beyond sports.
FAQ
Q. What kind of program is Shoot for Love, and why do famous players keep appearing?
It is a football channel that started in 2014 as a charity challenge raising treatment funds for children with cancer, run by the social enterprise Bekind. The donation-linked mission format and a decade-plus charity record have become an asset that lowers the appearance barrier for legends like Park Ji-sung, Ki Sung-yueng, and Ahn Jung-hwan.
Q. Is Shoot for Love a charity, and where does its revenue come from?
It began as a charity campaign but is now a content company that recorded 20 billion won in revenue last year. According to Seoul Economic Daily, hosting large events such as the Icon Match and OGFC legend matches, on top of YouTube ad revenue, drove the surge.
Q. Is Bavamba still part of the Shoot for Love team?
According to Naver Knowledge-iN answers, yes - still on the team and appearing occasionally, though less often than before. During the 2026 World Cup warm-up period, Bavamba appeared in the Chzzk watch-party broadcast with Park Ji-sung and Bae Sung-jae.
Q. What company runs Shoot for Love?
The social enterprise Bekind. Per Seoul Economic Daily's October 2025 report, it posted 20 billion won in revenue last year, is called the Sampro TV of sports, and is drawing investment interest from Korean VCs.
Methodology: Based on collaboration data across 6,843 brands and 44,981 creator channels on the Dhesy platform. Channel metrics were collected as of 2026-07-22; the 90-day window covers 2026-04-23 through 2026-07-22. Collaboration counts reflect Dhesy's collected scope and may differ from the full picture. Data source: Dhesy External sources: Seoul Economic Daily, Forbes Korea, Herald YouTuviewers, Pinpoint News, Incheon Ilbo Last updated: 2026-07-23