At this rate, the KBO may just reach its attendance goal for 2009: 5.5 million.

Fans packed the seats at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern
Seoul for the Doosan Bears and LG Twins game on Sunday.

The baseball buzz generated here by the World Baseball Classic translated into an impressive opening weekend for the Korean Baseball Organization, with attendance up.

The popularity of Korean baseball had flagged and attendance numbers dropped after the record-breaking 1995 season, which drew a total of 5.4 million fans. But a revival is underway, with the 2008 season attracting 5.25 million fans - the first time in 13 years the KBO could boast of attendance over 5 million in a single season.

The eight KBO teams have played a total of 32 games thus far in the 2009 season, drawing 402,622 spectators. At the same time last season, 309,470 people had come out to the ball park, making for an impressive 30 percent increase, an average of 12,582 more fans per game.

That might not seem like much in comparison to Major League Baseball stadiums, which can seat upwards of 50,000, but for a smaller market like the KBO these numbers are just fine. At this rate the league’s preseason target of 5.5 million fans could be within reach.

The most impressive performance among the eight teams came from the Seoul-based Doosan Bears, which has so far increased its attendance figures by an eye-popping 260 percent. The sold-out season opener accounted for much of the increase.

The team is working on various marketing strategies to maintain their sales momentum. For example, on “Queen’s Day,” which targets female fans, Doosan players will wear uniforms with pink stripes around the shoulder and waist, and the “D” logo on the team’s hats will also be colored pink.

Women will receive 2,000 won off home game tickets on the designated days. The first Queen’s Day is scheduled for April 30, with more to follow at the end of each month.

The defending champions the SK Wyverns also saw an impressive 157 percent increase in attendance over last season. For home games at Munhak Stadium in Incheon, the Wyverns have installed barbecue grills for families in what they call the “Fan Zone.”

To commemorate their Korea Series win in 2008, the Wyverns are giving fans an opportunity to take photos with the Korea Series trophy during the three-game series at home against the LG Twins starting today. Fans are free to take photos holding the trophy at a designated spot at the stadium near the first base line. Team officials are also offering fans a chance to take photos with the trophy on the field after the games against LG.

The Lotte Giants, who always enjoy a strong fan following, broke the record for attendance at a single club over one season last year, drawing 1.37 million people. For their first two home games of this season, 51,000 fans packed Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan.

Lotte officials are expecting such big numbers in the upcoming three-game home match-up against the Kia Tigers, which starts today, that they’ve dubbed it the “cheer hard series.” There will even be prizes for the section of the stadium that can cheer the loudest, along with other events.

The only team to have suffered a decrease in spectators is the LG Twins, also based at Jamsil in Seoul. They have played six games so far and have seen an attendance drop of 7 percent compared to last season.

For those who have not yet been to a KBO game, the sights and sounds are different from what one might expect at Major League Baseball games. First - the stadiums are divided into two sections, for fans of the home team and the away team. Each section has a group of cheerleaders and members of the team fan club, who often urge others to cheer and chant using drums.

In the U.S., baseball isn’t baseball without a ballpark frank. But at KBO games, visitors usually indulge in gimbap, rice and vegetables wrapped in seaweed, and udong, thick noodles in a hot soup base.

Unlike professional sports overseas, the games are very affordable, with tickets prices roughly equal to a night at the movies. So if the economy has you down, a visit to a ballpark, a pint of beer and some loud cheers might be just what the doctor ordered.


Article date: April 14, 2009
By Jason Kim [jason@joongang.co.kr]