Fans Remain Even After Lee Jung-hoo, How Kiwoom Heroes Became the 'Favorite' of 2030 Female Fans
Fans Remain Even After Lee Jung-hoo, How Kiwoom Heroes Became the 'Favorite' of 2030 Female Fans
Blog Article
In the professional baseball section of the 2023 Pro Sports Spectator Survey released by the Korea Professional Sports Association, Kiwoom Heroes showed the results of a "splash" survey compared to other clubs. Kiwoom accounted for a whopping 73 percent of female fans, with an average of 55 percent for 10 clubs. How did Kiwoom become the "favorite" club of female fans after ranking 10th in the regular season for two consecutive years last year and this year.메이저놀이터
Female fans' love for baseball in their 20s and 30s was the driving force behind the return of the KBO League to popular sports after the end of COVID-19. With all 10 clubs receiving benefits, Kiwoom was a team that featured "young female fans." Among the 10 clubs, female fans accounted for the highest portion (73.2 percent, 55 percent on average), and 63.6 percent of those in their 20s (44 percent, 1st place in Doosan with 46 percent) and 30s (19.6 percent) combined. In addition, the ratio of high-participating fans stood at 90.4 percent, ranking second after Doosan (92.7 percent).
However, in the 2022 data, which was just a year ago, the proportion of female fans was 52.3%, which was not a team that had a big figure compared to other clubs. According to the data, it can be seen that 2023 is when the number of female fans of Kiwoom began to increase in earnest.
Having attracted female fans, Kiwoom has achieved great growth in the number of spectators. The average number of spectators in Kiwoom stood at 8220 last year, an increase of 69 percent year-on-year. This year, the average number of spectators was 11,073, a total of 808,350, which is a new record. Kiwoom also made a big contribution to the KBO League's record of 10 million spectators for the first time.
The team is also closely watching the change. In various surveys, Kiwoom's female fandom has become noticeably stronger. The Heroes had been trying to increase the number of young female fans who were considered to be a minority in baseball's fandom since 10 years ago. Some say that the efforts have made tangible results.
When asked in a written interview on the 11th, "Do you think the purchasing power of female fans has influenced the increase in spectators?" Kiwoom said, "I judge so." According to a survey of fan propensity conducted by KBO from May to June, the expected frequency of visits by female fans of the club was 15.3, higher than that of male fans at 13.1. The ratio of online reservations was also 56.3% among female fans, which was higher than that of male fans. Those who are close to fans, such as cheerleaders and cheerleaders, are also experiencing a clear increase in female fans."
"The increase in female fans has also resulted in a positive result of an increase in MD (goods) sales beyond the number of spectators. Sales rose 24% year-on-year this year, especially in fashion clothing and character collaboration products favored by female fans. It is a sign that the purchasing power of female fans has influenced sales," he added.
Young female fans' love of baseball has become a universal phenomenon recognized by all 10 teams. Then, why does Kiwoom have a particularly high percentage of female fans.
There are some things that are difficult to explain with performance or star marketing. Kiwoom has been far from the postseason for the past two years since its advance to the Korean Series in 2022. It remained at the bottom for two consecutive years in 2023 and 2024. It was a season when Lee Jung-hoo (San Francisco Giants), who once had more Instagram followers than the KBO's official account, lost all of its traditional popularity factors such as "performance and stars," but the number of spectators has increased.
"We have planned marketing aimed at young female fans from two perspectives. The first is to expand the base of our baseball fans. We have tried to bring a new generation into the fandom of professional baseball, which was traditionally recognized as male-dominated. We have decided that women in their 20s will be an important starting point to expand not only our team but also the entire customer base of professional baseball. We also believe that strong fandom can build high royalties throughout professional baseball, which is an important driving force in the industrialization of professional baseball," Kiwoom said.
Kiwoom's efforts can also be found outside the ballpark. They tried to reach out to fans through the Women's University Special, Women's University Baseball Club Illeason, and Housewives Baseball Commando. Kiwoom said, "The program helped fans easily access and understand baseball, and ultimately induced interest in our club."
Its official YouTube channel has surpassed 100,000 subscribers this year. "We are constantly discovering and producing content that female fans may be interested in," Kiwoom said. "We are working to create a broader fan base by comprehensively utilizing various content including player and club marketing." This year, Lee Jung-hoo's Vlog content introducing how he tries to become a major league player received a lot of attention with 440,000 views. Kim Hye-sung's tribute video, which seeks to advance to the Major League, also garnered 410,000 views.
Kiwoom saw that the program that had the greatest effect among the marketing for many new fans was the women's college special lecture. This program is a tradition of Heroes that has been going on since 2012. Recently, however, the response has changed noticeably. In the case of Ewha Womans University's special lecture, 40 to 50 people participated in 2019, just before COVID-19, but as many as 350 people visited this year, drawing an explosive response.
This year, the university expanded the scope of special lectures. "This year's special lecture at Catholic University was the first one held at co-ed university. We plan to continue special lectures at co-ed universities in order to attract customers of various ages and spread the charm of baseball to the public," Kiwoom said.
It also reflects the fans' opinion that "Please strengthen programs outside the baseball stadium."