KBO Club Bows Its Head Due to Local Government Abuse
KBO Club Bows Its Head Due to Local Government Abuse
Blog Article
A person died at a baseball stadium. A baseball fan died at a space that was supposed to provide comfort and pleasure to the fans. Baseball fans were in a state of collective shock and fear. Above all, the irresponsible and willingness to avoid responsibility shown by Changwon City and the Korea Facilities Management Corporation after the accident added fuel to the anger.스포츠토토
The accident occurred at Changwon NC Park, where the NC Dinos-LG Twins match was held on the afternoon of March 29. The aluminum structure installed in the window of the fourth floor of the club's office on the third base suddenly crashed. The structure weighing 60 kilograms fell from a height of 17 meters. The louver, which bounced off the ceiling of the canteen, hit three spectators in line to buy food.
A woman in her 20s suffered a head injury and was treated in the intensive care unit after surgery, but died eventually. The teenage sister, who visited the ballpark together, suffered a broken collarbone. In the wake of the unprecedented accident, baseball fans have taken actions to demand a safe ballpark. A truck protest was held with the names of all female baseball fans nationwide.
I'm not even going to pass the buck to the club
Immediately after the accident, Changwon City and government officials were busy passing the buck rather than trying to deal with the situation and find a solution. In an interview, an official at the Changwon Facilities Management Corporation said, "The general safety management and repair responsibility of the baseball stadium rests with the NC club, the operator, according to the agreement," along with the "miracle" logic that "it is actually too selfish to say it, not the responsibility of the industrial complex." However, the louver in question is not the NC club, but the structure installed by Changwon City six years ago, and the owner of the baseball stadium is Changwon City, and the basic management entity is the Changwon Facilities Management Corporation, an organization under Changwon City.
Other facilities and exterior wall finishing materials are also designated as safety inspection targets under related laws. Changwon, which had been behaving as if it were none of its business, changed its attitude and formed a joint task force to conduct a safety inspection after the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport requested the government to conduct an emergency safety inspection in an official letter.
It is not the first time that Changwon has treated a baseball team in such a way. The city has a long history of conflict that began when NC was founded. When Changwon attracted the team in 2010, it won the hearts of NC and the baseball community with its unconventional proposals, such as the construction of a new stadium worth about 120 billion won (120 million U.S. dollars), exemption of fees for using the stadium, and entrustment of long-term management rights for the stadium. Considering the box office performance and accessibility, other regions were better, but NC chose Changwon based on the promise of Changwon City. Owner Kim Taek-jin's belief that balanced regional development is necessary also played a role in the choice of Changwon.
However, when it came time to build a new baseball stadium, Changwon City changed its words, saying, "The promise of exemption from user fees was for the existing Masan baseball stadium." NC has already shared 10 billion won out of 127 billion won in the construction cost of the new stadium but has been asked for additional user fees. Conflicts have also arisen over site selection and name issues. He also pressured the city to change the venue to Jinhae for political reasons, and forced Changwon NC Park to build Masan Stadium, ignoring Changwon NC's proposal and unanimously confirmed the name of the stadium by the Baseball Stadium Name Selection Committee.
Contrary to its promise at the time of its establishment, it demanded huge fees for Daegu (50 billion won) and Gwangju (30 billion won), and NC eventually signed the contract on the condition of paying a large fee of 33 billion won (25 years). City council members appealed their presence with a shout that "the baseball team has not contributed to the community at all." The memory of earnestly begging for "please attract baseball teams to our region" seemed to have been removed from his head white. Due to all kinds of political power abuse, NC baseball team employees were unable to speak properly and suffered only cold heart.
The relationship between local governments and baseball teams is not unique to Changwon City and NC. Hanwha Eagles also experienced similar things during the construction process of the new stadium. Hanwha invested a total of 51.86 billion won, or 25 percent of the construction cost, to build the new stadium and acquired the right to use, name, and advertising rights for the stadium for 25 years in return. The name was decided as Hanwha Life Ballpark based on the results of the fan preference survey, but in January 2025, the Daejeon Metropolitan Government suddenly called for the name of the stadium to be Daejeon Hanwha Life Eagles Park. The Daejeon City Government said, "We gave the right to use the stadium, not the right to decide the name of the stadium."
Afterwards, the use of the name "Hanwha Life Ballpark" was eventually allowed due to public criticism, but local politicians and local newspapers criticized the baseball team for ignoring local residents. It is the same as what happened in Changwon earlier. In some cases, a model of the 63 Building installed in the outfield of the new stadium was demolished because it was "unauthorized." Since the opening, there have been so many problems that it is hard to believe that it is a new baseball stadium, including visual field problems for the disabled, parking lot problems, leakage problems, and lack of electricity. The city and construction company are responsible for the situation, but the criticism of the fans who suffered the inconvenience was directed at the pitiful baseball team.
It's basic to put a spoon on it
An official from a team in the Seoul metropolitan area said, "The baseball team has no choice but to fall behind the local government, which boasts strong administrative power. Some local governments ask baseball teams to provide buses for local soccer teams." An official from a local club said, "It should not be known that the team's profits have increased or the deficit has decreased. If the team makes money, it is obvious that the local government will immediately demand 'to pay more'." "No matter how many 10 million spectators come and the stadium is sold out, professional baseball is still a deficit project that is operated by pouring money from its parent company, and local governments and local politicians do not intend to understand and do not try to understand this fundamental limitation."
Changwon and Daejeon have something in common that they have suffered from measles due to the controversy over the relocation of Yeongoji once in the past. Daejeon was highly controversial when Koo Hu-yeon took office as KBO president in April 2022. When there were signs of failure to commit to the construction of a new stadium ahead of the mayoral election at the time, President Huh said, "The baseball team may leave," adding, "If the local government continues to overuse itself and you don't know the importance of the baseball team, why should you be there? I feel the importance of the local government once I leave."