YONHAP NEWS

Record-breaking attendance heralds renaissance of Korea's pro baseball league

By Kim Boram
SEOUL, Sept. 9 (Yonhap) -- Every evening of this season, tens of thousands of roaring spectators have packed formerly quiet ballparks. Then, on Wednesday, the highest cumulative attendance record in 14 years was set as 5,407,527 fans attended with 50 games still remaining.

   Founded in 1982, the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) had been stagnant since 2000, when South Korea's big-name players, including Park Chan-ho and Kim Byung-hyun, went to the U.S. Major League, causing fans to spend hours at home watching their heroes on TV instead of going to their local ballparks.

   The depressed KBO -- whose figures declined to 2.78 million in 2000 and slid even further to 2.33 million in 2004 -- was saved, however, by the national team's surprising achievements at international competitions.

   When South Korea's national baseball squad won the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics last year without losing a single game, baseball's popularity exploded at home. Players thrilled fans again by finishing runner-up in the second World Baseball Classic (WBC) held in March.
"South Korean people started to think that the level of South Korean baseball was close to the world standard when its national team reached the semi-finals in the first WBC tournaments in 2006," said Lee Jin-hyung, chief marketing director of the KBO.

   While the newest record was set Wednesday, the last record was set in 1995, when a total of 5.4 million people came to games played by the eight clubs of the KBO. Attendance topped 4 million in 2007 for the first time since 1996, and leapt to 5.25 million in 2008.

   "The triumphs in the world competitions for two consecutive years have lured spectators in great numbers, convincing them that they are watching world-class performances at local ballparks," Lee said.

   But it might not be just the internationally proven skills of the players that draw fans. A new, devoted crowd has started to appear at games -- female fans.

   Unlike men, women tend to enjoy the game -- or at least the men in uniforms -- for themselves, and are less preoccupied with the game's results.

   With players who are considered to be unusually attractive, even the Seoul-based LG Twins, who rank second-to-last in the league, have managed to draw over 932,000 fans to their home games.

   "The women fans changed the atmosphere of the baseball park, whereas middle-aged men used to shout or swear at their teams when they lose," Lee said.
"Ballparks have become a place for leisure and dating," he added, referring to the groups of women and couples commonly spotted holding witty placards wearing baseball caps and jerseys with their favorite player's name emblazoned on the back.

   Of course, the top clubs also play a major role in setting attendance records.

   As competition heats up in the race that ends late this month, the nine-time Korean Series champions, the KIA Tigers, have attracted a total of 505,000 spectators in 56 home games at their 13,000-seat stadium. The Tigers, who currently top the league, played to a sold-out crowd 18 times this season, while the Busan-based Lotte Giants sold out tickets 17 times.

   A fringe benefit of the record-breaking attendance may be the long-desired modernization of the ballparks. Riding the highly charged atmosphere, the baseball community is asking for upgrades of the worn-out stadiums built in the 1960s and replacements for the hard synthetic turfs that hinder players from hustling on every play due to the risk of injury.

   Baseball specialists say it is essential to build new ballparks or at least remodel the old stadiums. The country also needs more clubs to provide quality games for spectators, they say.

   "Under current laws, a club is not allowed to own a stadium or lease it long-term. It has to renew the lease every two to three years," Park Sung-han from the Korea Baseball Development Research said. "The government should make way for clubs to invest in needed facilities, which will help fans enjoy the games without inconvenience."

   brk@yna.co.kr
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