OK Savings Bank leaves Ansan and opens a new chapter in Busan.
The OK Savings Bank Oymen Volleyball Team announced on the 24th, "We have decided to transfer our home base from the existing Ansan City to Busan Metropolitan City starting from the 2025-2026 season."
The OK Oymen team plans to use the indoor gymnasium located in the Ganseo Sports Park in Busan's Gangseo District as their home stadium.
According to OK Savings Bank, the background for this transfer of the home base has two main reasons: first, while professional volleyball teams are concentrated in the metropolitan area, this move aims to activate the team based on a new regional home base, secure more fans, and thereby expand the base of professional volleyball. In particular, there are no professional volleyball teams south of Daejeon, which is further concentrated in the metropolitan area. The OK Oymen team, after much deliberation, has decided to transfer the home base to Busan, allowing fans in Busan City and the Gyeongnam area to enjoy professional volleyball.
Busan City already has a solid sports-friendly fan base, as it holds professional baseball and football teams, as well as both women's and men's professional basketball teams. During the 2019 Busan Summer Match, fans expressed a strong eagerness for professional volleyball, revealing a thirst for the sport, thus sufficiently facilitating the expansion of the base through the acquisition of new fans.
The second reason is to expand the market scale through the influx of new fans and the resulting growth impetus. Busan City is referred to as 'Korea's second city' due to its large population, making it easy to expand the market and acquire new fans. Additionally, Busan already has a solid amateur volleyball base, which can lead to synergy. There are 13 volleyball clubs at the elementary, middle, and high school levels in Busan City, including Dongseong High School, Seongji High School, Gyeongnam Girls' High School, and Namseng Girls' High School.
The base of recreational sports is also robust. The number of volleyball clubs operating in Busan City reaches about 200, and the number of registered volleyball club players is about 1,700. The recreational volleyball tournament hosted by Busan City in 2025 is expected to have 18 events, indicating that there is a great deal of interest and passion for volleyball in this city. The amateur and recreational sports volleyball infrastructure in Busan City could also positively influence the expansion of the market scale due to the transfer. The OK Oymen team expects that the many possibilities possessed by Busan City in terms of population size and infrastructure will serve as a significant driving force for the team's growth.
As men's volleyball has recently been struggling to attract new fans and lacks growth impetus, if the OK Oymen team successfully secures new fans and expands the market scale through the transfer, it is expected to have a positive impact on the rise in popularity and expansion of men's volleyball.
The OK Oymen team plans to launch various activities for fans in collaboration with various sectors to settle successfully in their new home base of Busan. They are also planning a new form of marketing that can attract fans from other sports by collaborating with existing teams of the four major professional sports already established in Busan.
Given that Busan City has distinct regional and cultural characteristics with a variety of cultural and tourism content, the team plans to actively utilize regional colors. Through a more diverse concept of home game themes than before, they plan to provide fans with new experiences at each home game and engage with them through merchandise that reflects Busan City's characteristics. Additionally, they will continue to maintain their image as a locally embedded team through CSR activities for Busan City outside the court.
Active collaboration with professional sports teams and the new marketing aimed at attracting new fans could lead to a strengthened self-sufficiency of the team, aligning with the expanded home base scale. The indoor gymnasium that the OK Oymen team plans to use as their home stadium can accommodate more than 4,000 spectators, nearly double the capacity of the Sangnoksu Gymnasium. The OK Oymen team plans to establish collaborative systems in advance with Busan City and others to maximize the effects brought by the larger market and gymnasium size.
Meanwhile, the OK Oymen team expressed gratitude to Ansan City, which has been their home base since 2013. Ansan City is the city where the OK Oymen team shared many memories, but after much contemplation, they made a difficult decision. The team expressed deep gratitude for the achievements and support from their fans up to this point.
The enthusiastic support and affection from Ansan City fans at the time of the OK Oymen team’s establishment enabled the team to nurture their dreams and continue to take on challenges. They achieved championship victory in just two years and went on to win the championship for two consecutive years, which was made possible because the shining moments of the OK Oymen team were shared with the Ansan fans and Sangnoksu Gymnasium. The OK Oymen team stated that their gratitude and respect for the Ansan fans will always accompany the team and that they plan to prepare programs for the Ansan fans in the future to repay them for their support.
Choi Yoon, the owner of the OK Oymen team, stated, "Through this transfer of the home base, the OK Oymen team is embarking on a new challenge once again. It was not an easy decision, but I believe this transfer will serve as a stepping stone for the OK Oymen team to grow to the next level. I hope that the OK Oymen team can contribute to the balanced development of volleyball in Korea and regional revitalization while breathing with new fans."
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