[Inside Chodong] What Matters More Than 8 Million Fans in Professional Baseball

Fans Disappointed by Consecutive Player Misconducts
Exclusive Wired and Wireless Broadcasting Rights Contract Also a Variable

Professional baseball opens on the 23rd. Last year, professional baseball entered the era of 8 million spectators again after 5 years. According to the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), the total number of spectators last year was 8.11 million. Professional baseball first surpassed 8 million spectators in 2016 and recorded 8 million spectators for three consecutive years thereafter. This year, it aims for the fifth 8 million spectators. If the spectator growth rate exceeds 3.7% this year, it could break the all-time record of 8.4 million set in 2017.

The conditions are not bad. Although Lee Jeong-hoo, the most popular professional baseball player, left for the Major Leagues, Ryu Hyun-jin, who dominated the Major Leagues, has returned. It also sparks curiosity whether the automated pitching judgment system (ABS), called the ‘robot umpire,’ will resolve or fuel controversies over calls.

[Photo by Yonhap News]

However, there is a variable. The first paid broadcast of professional baseball could be a negative factor for attracting spectators. On the 4th, the KBO signed an exclusive wired and wireless broadcasting contract worth a total of 135 billion KRW (an average of 45 billion KRW per year) for three years with CJ ENM, which owns the online video service (OTT) provider Tving. CJ ENM announced that it will not resell the broadcasting rights. As a result, consumers will not be able to watch professional baseball broadcasts on portals such as Naver and Kakao starting this year. To watch professional baseball on PC or mobile, users must install the Tving application and pay a monthly fee (at least 5,500 KRW per month). CJ ENM secured the exclusive broadcasting rights by more than doubling the average annual contract amount for wired and wireless broadcasting. The wired and wireless broadcasting contract that the KBO had with the telecom and portal consortium (Naver, Kakao, KT, LG Uplus, SK Broadband) until last year was 110 billion KRW over five years, averaging 22 billion KRW per year.

However, consumers can still watch professional baseball for free through TV and IPTV. In February, the KBO extended the broadcasting rights contract with the three terrestrial broadcasters (KBS, MBC, SBS) for three years at 162 billion KRW total, averaging 54 billion KRW per year. Professional baseball can be watched as before on terrestrial broadcasters and five major cable channels (KBSN Sports, MBC Sports Plus, SBS Sports, SPOTV, SPOTV2). Since free viewing is still possible on TV and IPTV, the impact of paid viewing on PC and mobile may not be significant.

A bigger variable than this is the continuous incidents and accidents. The day before, former national team player Oh Jae-won was arrested on drug use charges. On the 7th, former KIA Tigers general manager Jang Jeong-seok and former manager Kim Jong-guk were indicted without detention on charges of breach of trust and embezzlement. Even last year, which reopened the era of 8 million spectators, incidents such as illegal gambling and drunk driving by active players continued. Despite the successive incidents, fans’ love has not faded, but there is no guarantee that this blind affection will continue.

Korea Gallup releases public opinion survey results on professional baseball every March. This year’s results have not yet been released, but looking at last year’s results, the interest rate among people in their 20s was the lowest by age group. Interest levels were in the 30% range from the 40s to those over 70, but interest among people in their 30s was 27%, and among those in their 20s, only 21%. In the 2013 survey, 10 years ago, interest among people in their 20s was 44%. Considering that the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z) is sensitive to issues of justice, the misconduct of baseball players could seriously affect the popularity of professional baseball in the future. Baseball officials need to think about what to do for the future rather than being satisfied with immediate popularity.