"Live when Tiger's Soldering..." The whole Gwangju is in turmoil, with a population of 1.41 million and a crowd of 1.3 million
Jul 13, 2024
|
The match between the KIA Tigers and SSG Landers held at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on the 13th sold out 20,500 seats at 5 p.m., an hour before the start of the game. 18th sold-out case this season. Since the opening of Champions Field, the record for the most sold-outs in a season (10 times in 2017) has already exceeded, and it is running toward a new record in every game. In addition, at the end of May, he achieved a club tie record of six consecutive home games (against Doosan and 6/2 KT).
The most sold-out record in a season in Tigers history, including when they were in a no-decade field, was 21 in 2009. That year, KIA won the regular season title and the Korean Series title. However, at that time, Mudeung Stadium had only 13,400 seats, and it was a record that included the Gunsan home game, which was the second stadium.
The record for the most home spectators in a season in Tigers history is 1,024,830 achieved in 2017. The only season that exceeded 1 million. But the pace this year is much steeper than that. The average number of spectators per game reached 17,829 by the 13th, and KIA is scheduled to play a total of 73 home games this year. Arithmetically, it can record about 1.3 million people in 73 games.
This is a huge figure. Currently, the population of Gwangju Metropolitan City, home to KIA, is about 1.41 million. Nevertheless, recording 1.3 million home spectators is an unimaginable figure.
LG Twins and Doosan Bears, which are based in Seoul, which has a population of more than 10 million, rank first and second in box office almost every season, also usually have a home crowd of 1 to 1.2 million per season. Kia is well above this pace this year.
Fans are paying more attention as they are leading the way alone this year. KIA team officials and players are also experiencing tremendous popularity every day this year. Not only has the number of fans visiting the ballpark increased significantly, but more fans visit the stadium than before in away games.
The team store within Champions Field is sold out as soon as the goods come in. As 130% of the volume in the first half of last year ran out in the first three days of this year's opening, the situation in which the staff in charge explained the situation to fans in almost sinner mode is repeated. It is so popular that fans who want to enter the team store three to four hours before the start of the game are lined up for a long time.
youll@sportschosun.com
