Even if the owner of’Wyverns’ changes, the passion for professional baseball remains forever
Reporter Park Ji-hoon [email protected]
Input: 2021-01-26 19:08:51Revision: 2021-01-26 20:13:03Posted: 2021-01-26 19:17:47 (p. 02)
As Shinsegae E-Mart is scheduled to become the new owner of the SK Wyverns club of professional baseball (Pusan Ilbo, reported on p. 19 on Jan. 26), interest is also gathering in the history of the domestic professional baseball owner’Son Change’.
E-Mart announced on the 26th that it would sign a memorandum of understanding prior to acquiring 100% of SK Wyverns owned by SK Telecom for KRW 135.2 billion. Among the acquisition prices, stocks are 100 billion won, and land and buildings such as baseball practice ranges are 32.8 billion won. E-Mart plans to sign a formal contract on the 23rd of next month. When Shinsegae Group E-Mart purchases SK Wyverns, E-Mart becomes the 6th company to acquire the club in KBO League history.
E-mart, new owner of SK Wyverns
Lotte and’Distribution Daejeon’ interests
First year members Sammi·MBC·Haetae…
The history of flickering according to the situation of the parent company
The main reason for the sale of the baseball team so far was the management difficulties of the parent company. This is also the reality of domestic professional sports that are not self-sufficient and rely on parent company support. However, SK Group, which sold the club this time, is considered unusual because it is one of the four major domestic groups with a solid business structure in mobile communications, semiconductors, and energy.
The predecessor of SK Wyverns is Ssangbangwool Raiders, founded in 1991 by Ssangbangwool, an underwear company. Due to Jeonju, Jeonbuk, Ssangbang-ul was shaken by the bankruptcy of its parent company during the 1997 IMF crisis, and disappeared into history after the 1999 season. Afterwards, in 2000, SK Group founded a club and jumped into professional baseball on the condition of recruiting the disbanded Ssangbangwool players. SK, who wanted a connection to the metropolitan area at the time, left Jeonju and built a nest in Incheon, where the connection was empty.
Prior to this, the first club whose parent company changed since the launch of professional baseball in 1982 is Incheon’s Sammi Superstars. Sammi, the first member, was acquired by Cheongbo Foods in 1985 and changed to Cheongbo Pintos. Sammi, which did not have a consumer goods business, began to sell the club as it did not enjoy the advertising effect of the club operation and the sluggish performance continued. Cheongbo Pintos was acquired by the cosmetic company Pacific Ocean 2 years later and transformed into Pacific Dolphins. However, due to the restructuring of the parent company, it was sold to Hyundai Group in 1995 and renamed to Hyundai Unicorns. In 2000, the Hyundai Club left Incheon and moved to Suwon, and in 2008 it was disbanded due to financial difficulties.
The successor of Hyundai Unicorns is the Heroes Club founded by Centennial Investment, an American investment advisory company. Unlike existing clubs that are supported by the parent company, Heroes is operated in a structure that sells the club name to companies and secures profits. The name sponsor is Kiwoom Securities, following Woori Cigarette and Nexen Tire.
In addition to SK Wyverns and Kiwoom Heroes, whose owners have changed several times, LG Twins and Kia Tigers have also changed their owners once. MBC Blue Dragon, who jumped in with the launch of professional baseball, was sold to Lucky Goldstar (now LG) in 1990. MBC sold the baseball team according to a labor-management agreement rather than a management problem. The Haitai Tigers, who won the Korean Series 9 times with Sun Dong-ryol in the lead, could not overcome the cold wind of the IMF. Haitai was shaken by the management difficulties of the parent company and was eventually acquired by Hyundai Motor Group. However, Kia Tigers inherited the history and tradition of Tigers, unlike other clubs that followed the form of re-founding after dissolution.
The match between the first-year professional baseball members, Haitai Tigers and the Lotte Giants, was a confrontation with pride in the confectionery industry, which attracted great attention every time. After the acquisition of SK Wyverns by Shinsegae, a leading Korean retailer, the fierce battle with Lotte, the retail leader, is expected to be an interesting point to watch.
Meanwhile, SK Wyverns is in a position to prepare for a new season without agitation even in a untidy atmosphere. The baseball world also predicts that the’Director Kim Won-hyung’ system will continue without much change for the time being. The same goes for coaches who sign a yearly contract. Most of the front desk staff are expected to keep their seats. On the other hand, the CEO and head of the club are highly likely to decide where to move. However, as the acquisition work was urgently progressed, the possibility of being retained for the stability of the team is also predicted.
Reporter Park Ji-hoon [email protected]