Yongjin Jeong, Vice Chairman of Shinsegae
It was in early December of last year that E-Mart encountered’intellect’ from the sale of SK Wyverns. The E-Mart official who directed the practical work remembered the time. “SK Group launched a baseball team at about half of the market price. I didn’t really explain why it was sold.”
E-Mart immediately formed a Task Force (TF) team. A report was also posted to Shinsegae Vice Chairman Jeong Yong-jin (photo). Vice-Chairman Chung had expressed his intention to take over the Doosan Group even when rumors that it might sell the baseball team due to financial difficulties. This time, more careful judgment was needed. The key was whether the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) was spread. It is because it can be taken over and suffered from no spectators. After a month of hard work, Vice Chairman Jeong sent a’OK’ sign to the TF team. His passion for a road that no one has ever walked, combining sports and shopping, moved him.
Shinsegae Group officially announced on the 26th that it will run a professional baseball team based in Incheon. SK Telecom agreed to acquire SK Wyverns for 135.2 billion won and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU). E-Mart alone acquires a 100% stake in SK Wyverns owned by SK Telecom (1 million common shares, 100 billion won) and the land and buildings used by the baseball team for 35.2 billion won.
An official from E-Mart said, “We will succeed in hiring both players and general employees. We will also confirm the club’s name, emblem, and character in March so that there will be no obstacles to participating in the regular season starting in April.”
It is reported that the decision to take over this time was made full-fledged at the end of last year as the SK Group launched the baseball team for sale. Since the establishment of SSG.com in 2014, E-Mart has steadily pursued the acquisition of baseball teams to strengthen marketing. An E-Mart official said, “Compared to other baseball clubs that had been released before, SK Wyverns had a clear stake structure, and above all, the price conditions were right.” When rumors of the sale of the Doosan baseball team came out, the sale price was estimated at 200 billion won.
Shinsegae Group explained the background of the acquisition of the baseball team as “part of a marketing strategy that integrates online and offline and social contribution activities for the development of Korean professional baseball.”
Vice-Chairman Jeong’s plan is that it will be possible to connect baseball fans who enjoy games such as baseball and actively participate in community activities with Shinsegae Group through mobile. Just as Coupang increased its member benefits by entering the online video service (OTT) market, it is possible to increase loyal customers in the online field by implementing’Shinsegae’ that combines sports and shopping.
An official from E-Mart said, “A detailed roadmap is under review,” and “We plan to evolve the baseball field into a kind of lifestyle center.” The idea is to make it possible to come to baseball watching, eat at restaurants in the whole country, enjoy shopping, and play experiences like’Sports Monster’. An official from E-Mart said, “We will also invest in related infrastructure to open the era of 10 million professional baseball spectators. I plan to go out.”
SK Telecom, which sold the baseball team, announced on the day that “we will take on a new challenge for the balanced development of sports in Korea.” It is an explanation that it will expand the base of amateur sports and develop and support athletes to strengthen the global competitiveness of Korean sports. To this end, SK Telecom decided to launch the’Korea Sports Promotion TF’. It also plans to explore and invest in future sports combined with advanced information and communication technology (ICT) such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR).
Reporter Park Donghui/Kyungmin Kang [email protected]
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