After the end of the corona pandemic, everyone questioned whether the KBO League would be able to enjoy the same popularity as before. Furthermore, it was compared to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) disastrous defeat held just before the season and the soccer team’s advance to the round of 16 at the Qatar World Cup. In addition, interest in baseball plummeted due to various incidents that occurred just before and at the beginning of the season, and concerns about box office success were great.
However,메이저사이트 overturning all these concerns, the KBO League is not at its peak, but the box office graph is showing a recovery curve. Lotte’s great leap forward is also included in the center. As Lotte ranks high, Busan’s Sajik Stadium, the center of ‘Gudo’, is gathering cloud spectators whenever they go on expeditions.
Lotte lost 0-5 in the match against Sajik SSG on the 20th. He won the game the day before (19th) and rose to first place alone, but fell back to third place. However, on this day, Sajik Stadium held its second full game this season (22,990). On this day, as the Busan Festival of the Busan Series was held, entry-level camellia uniforms were handed out to the audience. As fans wore camellia uniforms and filled the stands, the baseball field was covered with waves of camellia. It made me feel the heat of the Sajik Stadium.
Since the last minute of April, Lotte has been running for 9 consecutive wins and has risen to the top spot alone, and the upward trend continues relatively stably in May. Recently, they have won the winning series for three consecutive series, and are facing SSG, the ‘defending champion’ and competing for the lead, with a series of 1 win and 1 loss.
Lotte’s run is even serving as a driving force behind KBO’s box office success. As of the 20th, the KBO League exceeded 2 million spectators in 181 games (2,071,740). Based on the 10-team system, it exceeded 1 million spectators in 101 games, which was the 5th fastest time ever. It took an additional 90 games to reach 2 million spectators, which is also the fifth fastest after 2017 (71 games), 2016 (77 games), 2018 (83 games), and 2015 (86 games).
The current box office pace is at the level between 2015 (7,360,530) and 2019 (7,286,008). However, in both seasons, Lotte fell into the bottom ranks and failed to play a role as a driving force for box office success. In 2017, when Lotte most recently entered the postseason, the KBO League also set a record for the largest number of spectators (8,406,88). At that time, Lotte mobilized 1,038,492 spectators (an average of 10,424). This is a record that clearly shows how much Lotte is playing in the box office of the KBO League.
Lotte currently has 211,063 spectators in 18 games at Sajik Stadium. The average is 11,726. The last 8 games included 5 midweek games, but all had over 10,000 spectators (8 games averaged 15,769).
Above all, as Lotte fans began to follow the away games, a structure began to be created in which the success of the stadium followed. Lotte played 17 games on the road, and 224,106 spectators entered. Average of 13,183 people. In the case of an away game, most of the fans are fans of the opposing team at the home stadium, but it is often observed that Lotte fans fill the away cheering crowd as well.
[OSEN=Busan, Reporter Lee Seok-woo] SSG Landers Kim Gwang-hyun is fighting back in front of Sajik Lotte fans wearing a camellia uniform. 2023.05.20 / foto0307@osen.co.kr
Everyone feels that Lotte’s performance and box office success are proportional. On the 20th, Kim Gwang-hyun, who had a good fight with 6 innings, 1 hit, 9 strikeouts and no runs, calmed the crowd of 10,000 people who resigned. It was fun,” he said, but “actually, it is said that it is a period of stagnation in baseball. WBC performance was not good. However, it was so good and happy to throw the ball in front of such a large crowd. conveyed thoughts.
“Our SSG fans are also passionate, but the players jokingly say, ‘Lotte has to do well’ because Lotte has a lot of fans and is passionate. “I think the players have to show their best play as many come,” he said as a representative of the league.
Director Kiwoom Hong Won-ki, who witnessed the first resignation of this year as the opposing team, had a meal with manager Sutton at the time and said, “‘Lotte’s performance must be good for Korean baseball. It’s been a long time since I heard the Busan Seagulls sing.’ When I said that, Director Sutton also sympathized with me.”
Coach Larry Sutton is also a foreigner, but he feels pride and responsibility as the commander of the most popular team in the KBO League. He said, “I feel a strong sense of pride. All the players, including me as the coach, know and feel that Lotte fans are really great. I can’t see the crowd during the game, but I can hear 100% of the cheers. And when I look at the crowd after the game, I really feel it. I feel grateful,” he said. “I think the support of the fans is really absolute for the team to grow in a situation where the team is doing well now. I am grateful for that. It seems that as we grow, the fans grow along with us,” expressing gratitude for the fans’ absolute support.