Men’s and women’s professional volleyball, which had a hot crowd enough to forget the winter, began off-season training for the next edition. Will it be able to continue its steady league success in the new season?
The 22-23 season was truly a festive atmosphere. Kim Yeon-kyung (Heungkuk Life Insurance), who was active in an overseas league, returned to Korea after a year. It coincided with the relaxation of the Corona 19 regulations, and the timing was blessed. Kim Yeon-kyung was originally scheduled to return from the regular season, but due to the infection of Corona 19 by some of the players, she started playing in the cup competition.
Last year, a total of 25,552 spectators visited Suncheon Palma Gymnasium to watch the cup competition. Among them, the game with Heungkuk Life Insurance recorded an overwhelmingly large number of spectators. On August 13th, the IBK Industrial Bank exhibition reached 3,795 people, and on the 17th, the GS Caltex exhibition recorded 3,978 people. The road construction exhibition on the 19th drew 2,552 spectators.
Coupled with Kim Yeon-kyung’s ticket power, the women’s division enjoyed box office success. Based on the regular league, Heungkuk Life Insurance recorded an overwhelming 81,708 from the front in the total number of spectators. The average number of spectators is 4,539. Almost every home game was sold out. A combined postseason record was a total attendance of 99,405.
Following behind, the club with the highest number of home spectators was GS Caltex. The average attendance was 2,717 out of 48,897 spectators in the regular season. Following this, Hyundai Engineering & Construction made the number of spectators 42,157 in the regular league and 44,375 in the postseason (average 2,342).
Korea Expressway Corporation ranked 4th with a total attendance of 40,727 (average 2,263) based on the regular league, but the ranking changes when the postseason record is added. The combined record is 53,140 (average of 2,530).
Following that, in turn, KGC Ginseng Corporation recorded 34,973 (average 1,943), IBK Industrial Bank 33,864 (average 1,881), and Pepper Savings Bank recorded 32,613 (average 1,812).
Among these, the total number of spectators when each club played an away game with Heungkuk Life Insurance reached 61,514 in the regular league. On November 22 last year, Expressway Corporation, which played a home game against Heungkuk Life Insurance in the first round, recorded 4,118 spectators even on a weekday evening. On January 21 (Sat) of this year, 4,375 spectators visited Gimcheon. The average attendance is 3,417.
Only two games against IBK Industrial Bank (December 2nd and March 15th) had a relatively low number of spectators in the 2,000 range.
On the other hand, the men’s division recorded a slightly lower number of total and average spectators than the women’s division.
Among them, Woori Card, which uses the Jangchung Gymnasium in Seoul, took first place with an average attendance of 2,589 and 46,593 based on the regular season. It is a figure that is not significantly different from GS Caltex in the women’s division, which uses the home field together.
After that, Hyundai Capital recorded 30,400 regular league players and an average of 1,689 (postseason combined 38,633/average 1,840). KB Insurance followed with 28,759 people and an average of 1,598. OK Financial Group received a home crowd of 25,756 (average 1,431).
Korean Air, which established a new dynasty by winning three consecutive championships this season, welcomed a home crowd of 23,923 in the regular season and an average of 1,329 (28,106 in the postseason, an average of 1,405).
Following this, KEPCO, which made Suwon Indoor Gymnasium its home like Hyundai E&C, recorded 21,251 average in the regular league and 1,181 average (24,755 postseason combined, 1,303 average).
At the bottom was Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, which recorded a total of 18,599 spectators this season, with an average of 1,033 spectators visiting Chungmu Gymnasium in Daejeon.
In the women’s division,메이저사이트 Kim Yeon-kyung announced an extension of her active career and signed a new contract with Heungkuk Life Insurance, an existing team, and the box office blast is expected to continue for one more season. In addition, the influx of spectators in the early stage is noteworthy with the active movement of free agents and trades, the newly introduced Asian quota and the recruitment of foreign players. The men’s division, which had a strong tendency to freeze the player market this season, is in a situation where it is necessary to build box office items in another direction.
On the other hand, the 2023 cup competition to warm up the off-season is scheduled to be held at the Park Chung-hee Gymnasium in Gumi in July. The 23-24 season regular league will be held from October 14th.