FIFA Master Alumni - Where are they now? - Alice Yoon

Alice Yoon

Nationality: South Korea

Year of graduation: 2024 (24th Edition)

Current role and position in Sport: Media Partnerships Sales Manager at FIFA

What does your current role involve?

I work in Media Partnerships at FIFA, where my current role spans both the Media Sales and Media Partnerships Relations & Services teams. At a high level, the Media Partnerships subdivision brings in local and global media partners to promote FIFA’s tournaments through various broadcast channels. It’s an especially interesting time as I get to witness the diversification of these channels, evolving from traditional linear TV to digital streaming platforms and beyond.

For the FIFA World Cup 2026™, my role involves closing out remaining media rights sales and looking after our media partner in South Korea. The media rights sales process includes going to market with a tender and negotiating terms with potential media partners for a media rights agreement that makes financial and operational sense in a given territory. During this process, many contractual elements such as the exploitation basis, minimum obligations and promotional plans are discussed and it has been a learning opportunity for cultural, historical and geographical contexts across the world. Once I put on the account management hat, it is then my responsibility to ensure aforementioned contractual elements are carried out properly and that our media partners are fully informed in preparation for the World Cup.

Exposure to both the sales and post-sales journey of media partners has been the greatest privilege from my FIFA experience thus far, and I look forward to how my role develops following the World Cup.

Outside of these main responsibilities, I also contribute to various internal projects that go hand-in-hand to provide the best working experience for our media partners and internal reporting that is required to provide Management with an overview / outlook on Media Partnerships at FIFA.

Which aspects of the FIFA Master course have helped you most in your career? 

In my previous role as a private equity associate in real estate, I managed a similar level of cross-functional duties across internal and external stakeholders. I wanted to apply that strategic and analytical experience to the world of football, which shaped my identity as a student-athlete growing up. I knew this would be my biggest challenge, and goal, without any direct work experience in football, let alone sports. The FIFA Master was the perfect conduit to give me just that, an environment where I could reflect and pivot towards a career best suited for me. 

The humanities module in Leicester exposed me to a wide scope of knowledge in how sports came to be, and the power it holds to shape world affairs. The management module in Milan then allowed me to put all the learnings from Leicester in the perspective of inner workings behind the sporting ecosystem that make it function sustainably. Last but not least, the law module in Neuchâtel educated me about the importance of governance and legal structures that need to be in place to work within given jurisdictions and execute sound business practices. The course was the perfect all-in-one package for someone like me who needed a breath of fresh air before diving headfirst into the industry.

On top of this and above all, I had never been outside of the US and Korea and the exposure to a microcosm of the world with 20+ nationalities represented was yet another pull factor to submit my application to the course. I have long-lasting memories with my peers and to be able to say that I traveled the world with 25 people from 21 different nationalities is an asset I will carry with me for the rest of my life. With the FIFA Master’s extensive network across the world, and also at FIFA HQ, I now have a community I can rely on as I go through my life as an expat in Switzerland.

What advice would you give to future students? 

Ask difficult questions as this is prime opportunity to fill your own gaps about the history, culture and geography of the world we live in. Do your research beforehand to be respectful and mindful but don’t shy away from engaging in difficult conversations to become a more open and understanding human being.

FIFA Master - International Master in Management, Law and Humanities of Sport, ranked Europe's No.1 course a record 13 times by SportBusiness.

Organised by CIES in cooperation with De Montfort University (UK), SDA Bocconi School of Management (Italy) and the University of Neuchâtel (Switzerland).

"CIES, 30 years of impacting how sport is managed worldwide" & "FIFA Master, 25 years of Excellence in Sport Business Education"