"Ahn Hyunmin's support." There's an Australian fan! KBO's youngest team also exploded in popularity overseas, attracting 60,000 people to broadcast practice games

*This content was translated by AI.

KT Wiz, the youngest club in the KBO League, is also popular with overseas baseball fans.

KT won 8-7 in a practice game against Melbourne Aces at Geelong Baseball Center in Geelong, Australia on the 16th (Korea Standard Time).

While children's fans were allowed to enter for free, about 500 spectators gathered at Geelong Ballpark despite selling paid tickets online and offline. Local baseball fans as well as overseas Koreans living in Australia gathered, attracting attention from foreign fans wearing KT uniforms.

Brett, who was interviewed by the KT club, said, "I came to Australia because I was watching KT's news through online broadcasts and said I was playing in Geelong." "Since last year, I like Ahn Hyun-min the most. As it is a really good team, I hope KT will perform well this season," he added.

It was interesting to see how Brett became a fan of KT. He became a KT fan in 2024 when his U.S. Air Force friend introduced him while serving at an air base in Osan, Gyeonggi Province. In the process, the club's official application wizzap helped a lot.

KT's club launched WeJab in 2015 taking advantage of the advantages of its parent company that operates a telecommunications company. WeJab, the first fan communication application launched by a Korean professional sports club, is said to have lowered the threshold of the ballpark by simplifying the process from ticket reservation to ticketing and admission.

Last year, it launched the KBO League's first interactive AI chatbot agent "Big Tory Secretary" service that answers based on learned data. Through the AI Big Tory Secretariat Service, it will provide customized responses to customers visiting the baseball stadium, such as ticket reservation, game information, and pre-park reservation, and make it easier for the digital vulnerable to purchase tickets than before.

Mr. Brett was one of the fans who enjoyed the benefit. He said, "I frequently visited Suwon KT Wiz Park because it was easy for foreigners to buy tickets through Wi-jab. "I started liking KT enough to own five uniforms, including the Water Festival, Grey Day, and Military Day," he said with a smile.

The effort also led to a tangible result in front of the club's first home crowd of 1 million. Despite entering the first team in 2015 and being the latest to enter the KBO league, it attracted 979,941 people last year, the eighth-largest home crowd among the 10 teams in the league.

The growing interest in KT was also proven in the first practice game against Melbourne. According to the KT club, the game, which was broadcast live online through five channels, including TV broadcasts and portals, exceeded 61,000 cumulative spectators. Among them, 2,500 people flocked to Wiz TV, the club's YouTube channel, to have the highest share, boasting high loyalty.

KT, led by young players in the game, announced a pleasant start to the game by beating Melbourne. Melbourne had two wins and one draw in three consecutive games against the Hanwha Eagles, which was a formidable opponent. KT's No. 9 Kwon Dong-jin made 3 hits in 4 at-bats, No. 1 Yoo Jun-kyu made 3 hits in 5 at-bats, No. 2 Lee Kang-min made 2 hits in 3 at-bats (one home run) with one RBI, No. 4 Sam Hilliard made 1 hit in 2 at-bats, and No. 5 Moon Sang-chul made 1 hit in 3 at-bats (one home run) with two RBIs.

On the mound, Jeon Yong-joo (1 inning), Park Ji-hoon (2 innings), Kwon Sung-joon (1 inning), and Lim Joon-hyung (1 inning) kept the win by combining scoreless runs. After the game, KT manager Lee Kang-chul said, "It was a game where I felt the team depth improved overall. I'm encouraged that young players seem to be growing fast," he said.

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*This content was translated by AI.