Everyone's coming up, but OK Savings Bank is going to Busan alone
Everyone's coming up, but OK Savings Bank is going to Busan alone
Blog Article
OK Savings Bank, the men's professional volleyball team, will move to Busan. It has been 12 years since its foundation in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, in 2013. "We discussed the relocation of our hometown based on the awareness that there were not enough volleyball teams in the region," an official at OK Savings Bank told the Kookmin Ilbo on the 10th. "There was no conflict with Ansan City or there was a poor environment at all."안전놀이터
Talks between the club and the Busan Metropolitan Government are reportedly nearing an end. The Korea Volleyball Federation (KOVO) will hold a working committee meeting on Wednesday and deliberate on related agendas at its board meeting on Wednesday. If the committee passes the review, OK Savings Bank will relocate its headquarters before the opening of the next season.
Moving from the Seoul metropolitan area to a provincial area is a very unusual case in professional sports. Usually, local professional teams are moving to the Seoul metropolitan area. KB Insurance for men, the most recent example in the volleyball community, also moved its headquarters from Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province to Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province in 2017. The volleyball community seems to be welcoming the decision. As nine of the 14 teams in the men's and women's V-League are based in the Seoul metropolitan area, it fits the purpose of regional balance. None of the teams are based in the Yeongnam region.
If OK Savings Bank goes to Busan, Busan will become a local government that has all four major ball game professional teams, following baseball (Lotte Giants), soccer (Busan I'Park), basketball (Busan KCC, Busan BNK), and volleyball (Busan BNK). This is the fourth time following Seoul, Incheon, and Suwon.
The Busan Metropolitan Government is touting various advantages of relocating its home base. It has 13 sports clubs for elementary, middle and high school students, making it easy to find local talent. In addition, as more than 200 amateur teams are active in Busan, it is a volleyball-friendly environment. Of course, pain is expected. It is fatal to lose the local identity that it has accumulated for 12 years and existing home fans. In fact, KB Insurance suffered strong opposition eight years ago when it relocated to its home base, including a campaign to sign against 100,000 home fans.