It’s a major reversal. The box office performance, which seemed dark due to the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the poor performance of the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), ended as ‘clear’. The KBO League has surpassed 8 million spectators for the first time in five years since 2018.
This season’s KBO League mobilized 7,984,592 spectators as of the 14th. And on the 15th, 51,451 spectators were added to the L and Doosan games held at Jamsil Stadium, NC and Samsung held at Changwon NC Park, and Hanwha and Lotte held at Daejeon Hanwha Life Eagles Park, recording a total of 8,036,043. With 5 games remaining in the regular season from the 16th to the 17th, the number of spectators has already exceeded 8 million. There is a trend that it is possible to exceed 8,073,742 people in 2018, which is the third highest in history.
Just looking at the leaderboard, the results are surprising. In the KBO League, there has long been a large difference in audience mobilization between so-called successful and non-profit teams. When the so-called ‘Elodgi (LG, Lotte, KIA)’ are ranked side by side in the top rankings, many fans naturally visit the baseball stadium. Conversely, when Elogi performed poorly, the number of spectators decreased significantly.
In fact, the main player that led the box office success was LG. LG achieved a crowd of 10,000 won for the 7th time this season in the final game of the regular season, against Doosan in Jamsil on the 15th. 23,750 people entered and filled the stands, and the final number of spectators for LG’s home games in the 2023 season was 1,202,637. This is the 7th LG home game sold out this season, and the largest number of spectators for 10 teams this season has been confirmed.
However, exceeding 8 million spectators this year was not the result of being entirely dependent on Elotgi. In the rankings, Lotte is 7th and KIA is 6th. Even in the home audience rankings, Lotte ranked 4th and KIA ranked 6th, not having as much influence as LG. SSG, unlike LG, achieved more than 1 million spectators, and Doosan also had more than 950,000 people attend its home games.
What stands out most is Samsung, which ranks 5th in the home crowd rankings. Samsung, which played its final home game on the 14th, finished the season with 845,775 fans. Even though they were ranked 8th on the leaderboard and ranked bottom throughout the season, fans always filled the stands. Daegu Samsung Lions Park (hereafter La Park), which opened in 2016, has brought about something more than baseball.
Lapak has established itself as a ‘park’ where visitors can enjoy relaxation rather than simply a baseball stadium where people come to watch baseball games. Not only is the proportion of spectators in their teens and 20s high, but the proportion of family visitors is also high. The 2008 Beijing Olympic gold medal led to a baseball boom that led to the diversification of baseball fans, and that trend is continuing again like a wave.
In addition to Lapak, the stadium also has a high proportion of spectators in their teens, 20s, and 30s.
It’s good to see the cheering team win, but the baseball stadium is also preferred as a place to spend time with friends, family, and lovers.
As a result, weekend games and holiday games have overwhelmingly larger attendances than weekday games.
As the number of customers attending baseball stadiums becomes younger, demand for club-related products also increases.
Clubs also catch this and work with famous brands to create special products.
Dolls featuring famous characters wearing club uniforms sell out early, and a premium is placed on famous brand clothing using the club emblem.
The 2023 season is the green light for industrialization.
At the same time, the challenges are clear.
There is a lot of standing still.
Since ticket counters are still not integrated, fans go back and forth between ticket purchase sites and apps depending on the team.
Due to a previously incorrectly concluded new media broadcasting rights contract, broadcasting videos cannot be used on SNS and YouTube.
The age range of baseball fans has been renewed to be future-oriented, but the environment for young fans is not supportive.
If there is a three-game away game, we take the KTX and book accommodations accordingly,메이저사이트 but it is difficult to find marketing related to this.
There are ways to get more fans to visit baseball stadiums and more teenagers and people in their 20s to become interested in baseball, but they are not being utilized.
KBO will sign a new TV and new media broadcasting rights contract this winter.
In the case of the Major League, a video of a home run goes viral on social media and YouTube in 30 seconds, but there is nothing in the KBO League.
It is time for the KBO and its 10 teams, which have closed the window to attract more fans, to exercise wisdom.
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