the KBO League this season, where surprise heavy rains are particularly frequent, leading to many games being canceled. It seems obvious that the number of game cancellations due to climate change, such as sudden heavy rain, will increase further due to the effects of global warming that goes beyond global warming. In baseball, as the number of international games increases significantly compared to before, there is a Maginot line at which the KBO league must end. This season, the 2023 Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) will be held at Tokyo Dome in Japan from November 16th to 19th. So, I have to finish the Korean series before APBC. For this reason, the KBO is pushing ahead with the regular season by organizing double headers and Monday games despite the clubs’ great dissatisfaction.
The newly built Jamsil Dome Stadium,스포츠토토 which can alleviate some of the current concerns by allowing games to be played regardless of whether it rains or not, has become a reality. On the 18th, Seoul City announced plans to build Jamsil Dome Stadium. A closed dome stadium with a maximum capacity of 30,000 seats will be built at the current location of Jamsil Stadium. Hotel accommodations have also been built so you can watch baseball while lying in the hotel.
Jamsil Dome is a long-awaited project that the professional baseball world has been waiting for as it can immediately solve the deterioration of Jamsil Stadium, which was built in 1982 and is now over 40 years old. However, this rosy blueprint does not include an alternative for how LG and Doosan, which use Jamsil Stadium as their home, should handle the KBO League during the period when the dome stadium is built. It’s a half plan.
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, construction of Jamsil Dome will require at least five years. The scenario is that Jamsil Stadium will be demolished after the 2025 season, construction will begin in 2027, and be completed by the end of 2031. LG and Doosan are in a situation where they will have to play KBO League home games at Jamsil Stadium only until the 2025 season and then move out.
Initially, LG and Doosan’s solution to the absence of a home stadium that would arise when Jamsil Dome Stadium was built was to remodel and use Jamsil Main Stadium, which is right next to Jamsil Stadium. Jamsil Main Stadium is used as a soccer field, track and field sports stadium, concert hall, etc., and if it is temporarily renovated to host baseball games, it can satisfy the fans’ perception that ‘baseball games are always held in Jamsil.’
However, the Seoul Metropolitan Government appears to have refused to temporarily convert Jamsil Main Stadium into a baseball stadium due to safety concerns. The explanation is that while Jamsil Dome is in full-scale construction, there are concerns about safety accidents if a professional baseball game is held at Jamsil Main Stadium and large crowds of spectators come and go. Meanwhile, the Seoul Metropolitan Government mentioned a plan to use Gocheok Sky Dome, Mokdong Stadium, Suwon KT Wiz Park located in the metropolitan area, and Incheon’s SSG Landers Field as temporary home stadiums.
It is pointed out that Seoul City’s alternative is very unrealistic. It is true that Mokdong Stadium, which was used as the home stadium of Nexen Heroes (currently Kiwoom Heroes) in the past, is insufficient in many ways, including the size of the stadium, to host professional games. It is currently being used as an amateur baseball stadium, so if a professional team comes in, amateur competitions will also be disrupted. It is also unrealistic for both LG and Doosan to enter Gocheok Sky Dome, which is currently used as Kiwoom’s home stadium.
It is impossible to force Seoul-based teams LG and Doosan to live in Suwon or Incheon. LG has used Seoul as its home since its predecessor, MBC Blue Dragon, and Doosan has also used Jamsil Stadium as its home since 1986, after its predecessor, OB, moved in 1985. For two teams that have gathered many fans based in Seoul for 40 years, suddenly asking them to go to Suwon or Incheon for 6 years and then come back to Seoul is an act of ignoring the existence of fans. In addition, Jamsil Stadium is a space like a ‘symbol of baseball’ where people from all eight provinces of the country gather together and visit whenever they want to watch baseball. The six years that Jamsil Stadium will be absent is enough time for the fans’ perception and baseball culture to collapse.
It is known that the announcement of the Jamsil Dome Stadium was made without any communication between LG and Doosan on what to do during the construction period. LG and Doosan are also unable to hide their expressions of embarrassment at the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s unilateral announcement.
In this announcement, Seoul City only focused on its brilliant achievement of constructing Jamsil Dome Stadium. There appears to be no consideration at all for the clubs and players, as well as the citizens of Seoul, who will have to live in a rented room for six years. Rather than promoting the Jamsil Dome Stadium as a political accomplishment, the city of Seoul should come up with an alternative to the functions performed by the existing Jamsil Stadium and come up with a new plan. Even if you build a beautiful Jamsil Dome Stadium, what is the use if there are no clubs, players, or fans to fill it?