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A Lotte Giants cheerleader spurs on the enthusiasm of local fans at the team's home stadium in Busan.
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Rare signs of vitality are being seen in the long-depressed regional economy of Busan -- a result of neither the central government's pump-priming policy nor any regional development project. Thanks instead go to the Lotte Giants, a professional baseball team based in Busan and South Gyeongsang Province, whose recent winning streak has brought a boom to shopping districts and streets near the team's home field, Sajik Baseball Stadium, enlivening the economy throughout the wider Busan area.
This season the Giants have been outperforming the seven other teams in the league, with 12 wins and four defeats for a victory rate of 75 percent. That's a far cry from the recent past when they were the league's lowest ranked outfit. On April 13 the Giants became the first team in the league to win 10 games in the season, opening up the possibility of advancing into the semi-finals for the first time in eight years. News of the winning streak has brought fans rushing back to the stadium -- tickets have been sold out for three of the Giants' six games at Sajik so far this season.
The reinvigorated Giants have been drawing an average of 24,838 spectators per game at home, or 83 percent of stadium capacity. And visitors are interested in more than just watching the games. In the 15 days since the season's opening game, the Giants have earned about W180 million (US$1=W1,000), or 60 percent of last season's total sales (W300 million), through sales of jerseys, caps and jackets at stadium concession stands.
Nearby shopping districts and streets are also enjoying the good times. Restaurants and eateries are crowded with diners and shopping centers are performing better day by day. The effect is even being felt by the team's sponsor: since baseball season opened in late March, average sales at Lotte Mart's 50 nationwide outlets have increased by about 2 percent year-on-year. But at the 12 Lotte Mart outlets in Busan and South Gyeongsang Province, sales are up 6 percent.
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A girl puts a plastic bag on her boyfriend's head as they prepare to cheer for the Lotte Giants at their home field, Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan.
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"With fans bringing their families to watch the games, they naturally eat out and go shopping together," a Lotte Shopping official said. "We expect this trend to galvanize the regional economy in Busan in a positive way."
This so-called "baseball economics," in which a strongly performing team breathes life into a regional economy, has been seen in other countries, too. Whenever the Hanshin Tigers of Japan are on a winning streak, the local economy of Osaka gets a booster shot. Osaka and Busan have at least one thing in common -- the residents of both cities are huge baseball fans. Their "enthusiastic consumption" can be enough to rekindle the surrounding economy.
"The fundamentals of the regional economy in Busan are usually strong thanks to the boom in the shipbuilding industry," said a Pusan Bank official. "But these strong economic fundamentals have failed to fully revitalize the economy and improve consumer sentiment as a whole. The Giants' winning streak is changing the entire atmosphere."
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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