MZ fans don't want to shorten the game time. They want the game to end, not the 11th inning
Feb 02, 2025
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The KBO League has recently made all-out efforts to catch the hearts of the 'MZ generation'. The intention is not to neglect older fans, but to absorb a wider fan base by attracting as many younger fans as possible from a long-term perspective.
The same goes for efforts to shorten the game time. This atmosphere was led by Major League Baseball first. Compared to professional sports that are exciting and fast in tempo, such as the NFL and NBA, MLB was mainly evaluated as less competitive. The average age is getting higher, and efforts were made to revive the sense of excitement by introducing the pitch clock officially and playing overtime to break the image of 'Boring Baseball that older people see'. In fact, Major League Baseball saw the effect of improving the system.
KBO also followed this atmosphere. Efforts have been made to reduce the average game time to less than three hours and to save the 'exciting' charm while removing unnecessary elements. The average KBO League game time increased to 3 hours and 27 minutes (2014), including overtime, and then decreased to 3 hours and 13 minutes in 2024.
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It is not a formal survey, and the target class is limited, but it is clearly a meaningful result.
A baseball fan who participated in the vote said, "(The KBO League) has a relatively shallow depth of pitchers, but it seems that there are only rules that are too much for pitchers. For office workers, it is difficult to go to the stadium on time for 6:30 p.m., but I think it will be too bad to watch it for an hour or two and finish the game" gave an opinion.
Another fan also said "Fans don't like the quality of baseball being degraded and games that are not fun are getting longer. It doesn't matter when the fun and exciting match ends. We are just worried about public transportation time, he agreed.
Other fans who voted also "I think it's an attraction to watch baseball even if it takes time to play. Even if it's a winning game, it's too short. He expressed his opinion as a 'intuitive' because he can't go to the ballpark every day, and going to the ballpark is a big event in his daily life.
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The KBO board of directors decided to reduce the operation from 12th overtime to 11th overtime this year by gathering opinions from the coaches, but fans said rather "I like fun games even if it's longer" and "I prefer the end game"
Of course, the league cannot ignore the reduction of game time. The pitch clock is already officially implemented in international competitions, and efforts to reduce unnecessary time are made at the level of world baseball. It is also a necessary move for global competitiveness.
However, this atmosphere is worth considering in terms of marketing by the KBO League and 10 clubs. They say they want to enjoy the atmosphere even if the game time gets longer and enjoy a special event called Intuition for a long time, not just focusing on fast games and exciting games at the ballpark. In a situation where the theory of economic crisis continues to emerge, the opinion that professional baseball intuition attracted the largest number of spectators last year because of the relatively good price ratio compared to other cultural lives is also supported.
Young fans of the KBO League accept and enjoy baseball itself as a culture regardless of the game time.
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
