The professional baseball team Lotte Giants continued its streak of 20 consecutive sellouts at Sajik Stadium. It began the home six-game series with a sellout. The team is on the verge of breaking the KBO League record set by Hanwha Eagles less than a year ago.
Lotte announced that the regular season matchup against Hanwha Eagles on the 17th at Sajik Stadium in Busan sold out all 22,669 seats.
Thus, Lotte continued its record of 20 consecutive home game sellouts since the match against Hanwha on April 24. The team's own consecutive sellout record has already been surpassed, and it is breaking records each time it achieves a sellout. Of the 33 home games played this year, 24 games have sold out.
Now, Lotte is challenging the record of 24 consecutive sellouts set by Hanwha Eagles this year. Hanwha achieved 24 consecutive sellouts from the home game against Kiwoom on April 13 to the home game against KT Wiz on June 5. The newly built Hanwha Life Ballpark opened this year, and the team has also maintained a top performance, leading to unprecedented popularity.
The baseball fervor in Busan is well known, and foreign players visiting the KBO League have confirmed the city's support culture and excitement through videos. Lotte has also become a catalyst for lively buzz while maintaining a strong performance this year. The team is scheduled to play a three-game home series against Hanwha during the week, followed by another three-game home series against Samsung Lions in the classic series on the weekend. Because the Samsung matchup is a regular sellout, if the six-game home stretch proceeds as planned this week, it is very likely the team will break Hanwha's record of 24 consecutive sellouts. However, the variable is the expected weekend rains.
The capacity of Sajik Stadium is 22,669 seats. Currently, it is impossible to capture all the excitement of Sajik Stadium within this capacity. Regardless of weekends or weekdays, and irrespective of the opposing matchup, Busan baseball fans continue to flock to the stadium, leading to a ticket crisis.
Like most clubs, Lotte is widening seat spaces and expanding table seating, reducing the overall number of seats in the existing spectator area. While this is aimed at increasing viewer convenience, it is also a marketing strategy to boost revenue by raising the average spending per customer. In particular, Sajik Stadium, which has been Lotte's home since its opening in 1985, has undergone numerous renovations to complete the current seating area due to aging. Given the limited space and numerous restrictions on renovations, expanding spectator seating is nearly impossible.
Therefore, the demand for a new stadium in Busan is bound to grow vigorously. In November 2024, the city of Busan announced a vision that includes plans for the reconstruction of Sajik Baseball Stadium and the complex development of the comprehensive sports complex, with a total project cost of 326.2 billion won. The goal is to rebuild Sajik Stadium with a capacity of 21,000 seats by 2031. The project will be funded by government allocations of 29.9 billion won, Lotte Group contributions of 81.7 billion won, and the city of Busan covering the remaining 214.6 billion won.
However, it is questionable whether the current excitement of Sajik Stadium can be fully contained within 21,000 seats. At the time, the city of Busan noted, 'We will create an open stadium that reflects Busan's uniqueness, allowing fans to better experience the city's passionate support culture,' and added, 'Unlike the environmental conditions when the first baseball stadium was constructed, we will minimize noise and light pollution by lowering the ground level considering the dense residential environment and support culture in Busan.'
Among the newly constructed stadiums, the current number of spectator seats is comparatively high, but considering the uniqueness of Busan, many believe that 21,000 seats are insufficient. Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, which opened in 2016, has a capacity of 24,000 when fully occupied, and many also find that inadequate. This year, Hanwha Life Ballpark opened with 17,000 seats, while Changwon NC Park, which opened in 2019, only has a capacity of 17,983 seats.
However, for now, the Busan new stadium project remains in limbo as the budget has not yet been definitively approved. In April, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety rejected the reconstruction proposal for Sajik Stadium during the central investment review of local government finance. The proposal was rejected due to the uncertainty in securing the required 29.9 billion won of government funds. The city of Busan plans to apply for the investment review again in July, stating that if it does not receive government support, it will cover the costs with city budget funds.
Also, leading up to the 21st presidential election, the issue of constructing a baseball stadium in the North Port redevelopment project emerged as a hot topic, amid various campaign promises. Jeong Cheol-won, president of the local construction firm Hyopseong Construction, pledged to donate 200 billion won for the construction of a baseball stadium in the North Port redevelopment area, making it a significant issue in the Busan community.
However, nothing has yet been decided regarding the new Sajik Stadium. Will a new baseball stadium that can contain the heated baseball atmosphere of Busan be constructed?
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