Lee Bum-ho (43), who led the KIA Tigers to an overall championship in the professional baseball league, received a huge gift. He renewed his contract with the highest treatment among active managers with a three-year investment of 2.6 billion won (approx.
KIA announced on the 3rd that it has renewed its contract with coach Lee Bum-ho for a three-year total of 2.6 billion won (down payment of 500 million won, annual salary of 500 million won, option 600 million won). It announced its renewal six days after winning the Korean Series on the 28th of last month.
Lee Bum-ho was promoted from the first-team batting coach to the coach during the Canberra Spring Camp in Australia on February 13. At that time, he signed a two-year contract worth 900 million won (300 million won in down payment, 300 million won in annual salary). He took the helm as the league’s first coach in the 1980s.
With support from his team thanks to his leadership, Lee led Kia to No. 1 ranking in the regular season (87 wins, 55 losses, two draws and a .613 win rate) by reasonable management. He thus had an overwhelming lead over No. 2 ranking and nine matches. He also beat Samsung by four wins and one loss in the Korean Series to achieve a combined win in the first year after his inauguration. He became the third Korean team to win a combined championship in his first year following Samsung coach Sun Dong-yeol in 2005 and Samsung coach Ryu Joong-il in 2011.
He had to work from the first year of his two-year contract, and Kia quickly gave Lee a present to renew his contract. Under the previous contract, Lee was to receive an annual salary of 300 million won (37,500 U.S. dollars) next year, but the contract was canceled under mutual agreement. The new contract will start from next year to 2027. As a result, Lee will receive 600 million won (64,700 dollars) for one year as his first contract, and 2.6 billion won (2.63 million dollars) for three years as his second contract, and pocketing up to 3.2 billion won (2.63 million dollars) for four years. He has also enjoyed huge financial success like any other FA player.
Lee Bum-ho’s 2.6 billion won is the highest treatment among the heads of the 10 active clubs. KT manager Lee Kang-chul and Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung were receiving the highest treatment with a total of 2.4 billion won over the three years from 2024 to 2026. This was followed by LG manager Yeom Kyung-yeop (2.1 billion won for three years from 2023 to 2025), Hanwha manager Kim Kyung-moon (2 billion won for three years from 2024 to 2026), Doosan manager Lee Seung-yeop (1.8 billion won for three years from 2023 to 2025), Kiwoom manager Hong Won-ki (1.4 billion won for three years from 2023 to 2025), NC manager Lee Ho-joon (1.4 billion won for three years from 2025 to 2027), Samsung manager Park Jin-man (1.2 billion won for three years from 2023 to 2025) and SSG manager Lee Soo-yong (900 million won for two years from 2024 to 2025).
A total of 2.6 billion won (2.7 million U.S. dollars) is the third highest ever treatment ever. Kim Tae-hyung, who led Doosan to the combined championship in October 2019, renewed his contract with a three-year record of 2.8 billion won. It was his first annual salary of 700 million won. In September 2009, Samsung coach Sun Dong-yeol signed an extension contract for five years and 2.7 billion won, followed by Lee Bum-ho. In terms of age, Kim Tae-hyung was 52 years old in 2019, and Sun Dong-yeol was 46 years old in 2009. Lee Bum-ho received the highest ever treatment at the young age of 43.
Among previous coaches, there were 11 coaches who signed contracts worth more than 2 billion won, a total of 18 times. Kim Tae-hyung has won three contracts worth more than 2 billion won, the most at Doosan and Lotte. Kim Tae-hyung, who started his managerial career by signing a two-year, 700 million won contract with Doosan in October 2014, has earned a total of 7.9 billion won from four contracts. Kim Sung-geun, Ryu Joong-il, Yeom Kyung-yeop, Lee Kang-cheol, and Kim Kyung-moon each signed two contracts for more than 2 billion won, and Sun Dong-yeol, Kim Ki-tae, Lee Dong-wook, Kim Won-hyung and Lee Bum-ho each signed one for more than 2 billion won. All but Kim Kyung-moon have won and received the highest treatment. 토토사이트
Meanwhile, Lee Bum-ho said, “I would like to thank the team for their full support to lift the trophy. I will try to meet the expectations of the team that gave me trust even though I still have a contract period,” adding, “I still can’t forget the roar of the day when I decided to win the championship in Gwangju. I was able to win the championship thanks to the support and support of the Tigers fans. I will continue to maintain my top-ranked performance so that I can raise the championship trophy again within my tenure.”
Prior to announcing the renewal of contract with Lee, Kia recruited new bench coach Kim Joo-chan and defensive coach Kim Min-woo at his request, giving a boost to the team. Notably, Kim Joo-chan has been best friends with Lee for seven years when he was a Kia player. Kim Joo-chan, who left Doosan to serve as a batting coach for the first team at Lotte this year, will serve as a bench coach for the first team at Kia and provide advice on Lee’s game management.
