Should the opening of professional baseball be Saturday, there are other options [RYU SUN KYU's beaded ball]

*This content was translated by AI.

This year's professional baseball season opened on Saturday, March 28. Now, the opening day of the KBO League has become a principle. It's Saturday. It was the same last year, and it is the same this year. Unless there are special variables, the opening of Saturday is likely to continue next year.

But it wasn't like that from the beginning. In the past, there was also a Friday opening. Even in the 2000s, the season opened four times on Fridays: 2002, 2007, 2016, and 2017. Going back further, there was a time when the "date" was the standard rather than the day of the week. It's Arbor Day. In 2000 and 2001, Arbor Day opened on Wednesdays and Thursdays, respectively, in time for April 5, when Arbor Day was a public holiday, and in 2004, the season began on Sunday, April 4, the day before Arbor Day. At that time, Arbor Day was actually considered the opening standard.

However, as the number of regular season games increased, the opening schedule was gradually accelerated. Each team has played 144 games since 2015 after 133 games in 2001, 126 in 2005, 133 in 2009, and 128 in 2013. As a result, the opening time also moved from April to March, and Saturday's opening has become virtually the standard.

Of course, there were exceptions. In the aftermath of COVID-19, the opening was postponed until Children's Day on May 5, and the season began on Tuesday. However, the meaning of the day was not significant as it was a match without spectators.

Saturday's opening is definitely a reasonable choice in terms of box office. As the first day of the weekend can be used, it is advantageous in both attracting spectators and organizing broadcasts. However, there is one drawback. The KBO league schedule basically operates in units of three consecutive games, and when it opens on Saturday, the opening series will be only two consecutive games on Saturday and Japan. One game that is missing in the process will be organized separately as the remaining games during the season.

The problem is the inefficiency of this remaining economy. In the existing regular schedule, if there is a rain-delayed match at the same opponent's stadium, it can be tied up in a series when organizing the game later, but if not, a separate movement is needed for only one game. In particular, the burden of movement and certain inefficiencies increase significantly in long-distance expeditions to and from the metropolitan area and provinces.

For this reason, in the past, the opening three consecutive games were held from Friday to Sunday. However, since Friday was a weekday at the time, it was not easy to fill the crowd, and terrestrial broadcasting was also burdensome to organize.

In fact, in 2017, the last Friday opening, 21,121 people in Jamsil (26,000 seats), 13,649 people in literature (25,000 seats), 13,505 people in Daegu (24,000 seats), 8,013 people in Gocheok (16,000 seats), and 11,000 people in Masan (11,000 seats) entered. The seating share was about 81% in Jamsil, about 55% in literature, about 56% in Daegu, and about 50% in Gocheok, with Masanman attracting 10,000 won.

But things have changed now. As the number of spectators has exceeded 10 million for the past two consecutive years, the number of sold-out cases has also increased significantly in weekday games. Friday's opening is also more likely to be a box office hit than in the past.

The terrestrial broadcasting environment has also changed. As the organization of weekday night games has expanded in recent years, there is a good possibility of terrestrial broadcasting even on Friday if it is the opening game. In fact, this year, KBS organized a "Fire Friday Baseball" that broadcasts night games every Friday from April 3. Even if Friday's opener is not broadcast on the ground, it's not a big deal. This is because sufficient exposure can be secured through weekend games included in the opening three consecutive games.

Overseas cases are also worth referencing. The U.S. Major League Baseball (MLB) will play its official opening game separately. This year, the New York Yankees and the San Francisco Giants played the opening game first on Wednesday, March 25, and the opening series began in earnest at 11 stadiums on Thursday, the next day. The Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) opened in six stadiums on Friday, March 27 this year.

The KBO League also needs to refer to these examples. Like MLB, Friday's "official opening game" will be played first, and the remaining four games will be continued on the weekend. In this case, you can expect the effect of focusing the fans' attention with one game. For example, this year, the "defending champion" LG Twins and kt Wiz will play Jamsil game on Friday as the official opening game of "single."

As an official opening card, it is attractive to organize the previous year's Korean Series showdown as a revenge match. LG and Hanwha, who faced each other in the Korean Series last year, will clash again in the opening game. Symbolism and box office success can be secured at the same time. In addition, it is also possible to consider selecting the opening match in an event manner at the KBO Awards or the Golden Glove Awards.

Another option is the simultaneous opening of all stadiums on Friday like the NPB. With the current box office trend, it is a card worth trying.

Unlike MLB and NPB, the KBO League plays the opening game as a weekend daytime game. But the opening game is the biggest exciting moment for all baseball fans. The expectations and atmosphere of night games are much greater than day games.

The popularity of the KBO League is now at its peak. Taking advantage of this trend, it is necessary to try to change the operation of the opening game. It is time for KBO and clubs to provide fans with greater excitement and new attractions.

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*This content was translated by AI.