There’s been a rumor swirling around the baseball world for a while now. It was speculated that NC Soft would put its baseball team, the NC Dinos, up for sale.
The rumor seems plausible given the recent atmosphere. NC Soft, the parent company of the Dinos, has been going through a rough patch, with its stock price falling due to poor performance. NCsoft’s annual revenue (KRW 1.798 trillion) and operating profit (KRW 137.3 billion) fell 31% and 75%, respectively, year-on-year last year. The company’s reliance on its hit game “Lineage” has been exacerbated by a string of recent releases that have struggled.
The parent company’s poor performance has been traced back to the baseball team.
Due to the nature of the KBO league, which is highly dependent on the parent organization, baseball teams are often seen as money-eating hippos.
A professional baseball team needs about 30 to 40 billion won to operate normally for a year. Baseball teams also earn revenue from broadcasting rights, ticket sales, and marketing effects, but with the exception of the Heroes, most of them are highly dependent on their parent organizations.
Due to this situation, even the NC Dinos, 안전놀이터 who have made ‘hot investments’ in the past, have been hesitant to make aggressive investments such as signing large free agents since last year.
In addition to external spending, the team is also tightening its belt internally.
Rumors circulated that the NC Baseball team was tightening its belt even more than before, and it was expected that it would close its wallet for the time being except for essential expenditures. In addition, there were stories that NC Soft shareholders continued to voice their displeasure with the existence of the baseball team.
Amidst the various rumors of a possible sale, we were able to get a clearer picture of the NC Dinos from Byung-moo Park, NC Soft’s new co-president.
When asked about the operation of the baseball team at the ‘NC Soft co-presidency launch media briefing’ on the 20th, Park Byung-moo said, “Some shareholders are concerned about the operation of the baseball team.” However, he clarified his current stance that the team will not be sold, saying, “Considering the positive aspects of the baseball team, such as marketing new games, securing talented people, and synergy as a content company, we have tentatively concluded that it is helpful to operate efficiently rather than sell.
But it’s not closing the door completely, leaving the door open for the future. “We will continue to review cost efficiency as shareholders continue to express concerns,” he added.
In other words, the company will not sell the baseball team based on the effectiveness of its operations, but it will continue to scrutinize its cost-effectiveness. In short, the message is, “We decided not to sell the baseball team, but we will keep a close eye on the economics.
The NC Baseball Club was founded in March 2011 and was one of the newest teams to join the KBO in the 2012 season.
The KBO, which was previously an eight-team league, became a nine-team league with the ambitious NC Dinos, and the current 10-team league was completed with the creation of KT Wiz. NC, which is based in Changwon, Gyeongsangnam-do, has been making waves in the league since its inception with aggressive parent company investment and a young, fresh image. In 2020, the team won the regular season title for the first time since its founding and the Korean Series title for the first time in its history, thanks to the effect of the Yang Ji recruitment and the career highs of its main players.
Last year, the first year of Kang’s regime, NC finished the regular season in fourth place and advanced to the playoffs through the wild-card round, semi-playoffs, and playoffs.
This year, the team is expected to finish at least in the middle of the pack based on the leadership of manager Kang In-hwon, a strong batting lineup, and the growth of young players, but league performance and club management are two different things.
The NC Baseball Organization has also been thinking about this aspect, and has cited ‘self-sustainability’ as its top priority.
NC Dinos CEO Lee Jin-man said in a call with Sports Chosun on the 20th, “Since the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been making a lot of efforts to think about self-sustainability, and since last year, we are seeing clear results. Last year, we recorded the highest sales since the baseball team was founded, and our profit and loss figures grew by more than 25 percent.”
Indeed, the enthusiasm for baseball in Changwon is overwhelming.
NC’s aggressive marketing efforts have resulted in the team selling out all 17,901 seats for the 2024 regular season opener against the Doosan Bears at home, Changwon NC Park, on March 23. All seats were sold out within 45 minutes of the ticket opening. NC, which was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, has been selling out its home games since September last year, 바카라사이트 followed by two postseason games in October and the opening game of the new season. The marketing synergies at the parent company level are also promising.
In particular, officials say that Kim Taek-jin, who was most directly involved in the creation of the baseball team, still has a love for baseball. He continues to communicate with the baseball team and quietly visits the baseball field to watch games, showing his unwavering love for the team.
The rumors of NC’s sale of the baseball team are expected to remain rumors. But the task is not over. Now, the focus will be more on setting a new direction for the franchise, with an emphasis on making it self-sustainable. It’s a path that all 10 teams need to take anyway.