In the ‘post-Corona’ era, the K-League is a popular explosion. FC Seoul and Ulsan Hyundai stand out. In the ‘Hana 1 Q K League 1 2023’, which ended up to round 10, they formed the lead side by side. Coach Hong Myung-bo’s defending champion Ulsan took 1st place with 8 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, 25 points, and coach Ahn Ik-soo’s Seoul ranked 2nd with 6 wins, 1 draw and 3 losses, 19 points.
Good results led to box office success. The leader in this sector is Seoul, which has maintained its status as a traditional marketing powerhouse and the most popular team. After the opening of the season, the number of spectators who visited the 4 home games was 117,946, an average of 29,487 per game. 45,007 people entered the 6th round match against Daegu FC, which invited top-notch singer Lim Young-woong as a guest speaker, and 30,186 people entered the 100th match against Suwon Samsung that followed.
Seoul also expects a special Children’s Day (May 5). In the 11th round against Jeonbuk Hyundai, which was named ‘Legendary Match’, more than 35,000 tickets were booked as of the 2nd, with the number of expedition requests exceeding 6,000. If there is no rain variable, 40,000 spectators can be expected.
Ulsan is also amazing. It was once considered one of the most ‘unpopular’ clubs, but now it’s different. It has become a national club boasting an average of 17,456 per game (5 games, a total of 87,279). It is in contrast to Ulsan’s ‘family rival’ Jeonbuk, who gathered 59,927 people (average 9988 people) in 6 games.
This is the result of continuous competition for championships since the days of former coach Kim Do-hoon, fruitful results under coach Hong’s system, and aggressive marketing by the club’s secretariat. These days, various projects carried out by Ulsan clubs both online and offline are well received enough for other clubs to benchmark. Beyond the limits of the local club, he has risen to the position of challenging Seoul’s status as a ‘marketing leader’.
As such, the most eye-catching thing in the K-League box office drive is the unit price (value of ticket per person excluding free and discounts). If the ticket price exceeds 10,000 won, it is evaluated as self-sustaining, but Seoul is currently around 13,000 won. Seoul, which was the only city to surpass 300,000 spectators in the last 2019 season before the “corona era,” ranked first in admission revenue (approximately 3.9 billion won) and in ticket price (11,899 won). can be expected
Ulsan is around 11,000 won. Even if the home game average is maintained, it is calculated that 200 million won per game and about 4 billion won in annual ticket revenue are expected. If a budget of 10 billion won is used annually, the operating cost will increase to 14 billion won.
There is another interesting point. It is a phenomenon in which expensive seats with light food and beverages and small souvenirs are sold first, rather than cheap tickets. It means that the K-League, which has escaped the days of being treated as an idiot if you watch the game at a reasonable price, is now recognized as content worth spending money on and enjoyable. 메이저놀이터
An official from the K-League said, “The last opportunity for the club to become self-sustaining has been opened. It should be a product that is not a waste of money. Competitors in soccer are not other sports. We have to catch up with other cultures such as plays, musicals, concerts, and movies. We need to think hard to attract more people,” he explained.
