Professional baseball industry sees boom in merchandise sales

[Anchor]

This year, the popularity of professional baseball has been tremendous.

For the first time in history, it surpassed ten million spectators, setting an incredible box office record.

As the demand for baseball merchandise rises, competition in baseball marketing is intensifying.

Reporter Hamurim reports.

[Report]

["Hello! I am Koo Min-joo, a fourth-year fan of the Samsung Lions. Let me introduce you to my 'fan zone' at my place. This is the Samsung uniform that I collect every season. And I want to introduce a product that I really love, the Chunsik doll, a collaboration between KBO and Kakao Friends."]

Recently, collecting goods has become a trend among the new generation of baseball fans.

They are popular as cheering tools in the baseball stadium and as interior items at home.

[Koo Min-joo/Samsung fan: "(During the season, my spending on baseball-related items is) about 300,000 to 400,000 won a month including ticket prices? When I buy uniforms, that is. When I don't buy uniforms, I think I spend about 100,000 to 150,000 won a month."]

This season, professional baseball's popularity has been driven by women in their 20s and 30s, especially with products collaborating with popular characters like Crayon Shin-chan and Broken Bear successfully targeting female fans.

KIA saw a 350% increase compared to last year, and Lotte over 220%, with all ten teams experiencing significant growth in merchandise sales revenue.

KIA's Kim Do-yeong, with an annual salary of 100 million won, is expected to earn incentives exceeding four times his salary from uniform sales that recorded 10 billion won in revenue.

[Yeom Soo-bin/Doosan fan: "These days, it seems like young people are all trying to buy a lot of goods, and it's so hard to get them that people are lining up. It seems like everyone has at least one item these days."]

Diverse marketing strategies targeting the baseball boom are also noticeable.

Convenience stores are decorated like baseball locker rooms to sell various products, and the tech industry is releasing various baseball character emoticons.

There are even performances combining baseball and K-POP, with Lotte hosting a large festival at their home stadium on Nov. 3.

[Kim Soo-mi/Senior Marketing Manager of Lotte Giants: "We have prepared events such as a players' singing contest, and artists like 'AKMU' and 'ZICO' will participate to make the various events enjoyable."]

With both box office success and market growth, professional baseball is accelerating its industrialization.

This is KBS News, Hamurim.