...as far as I know. This may, of course, change once the team starts playing with SKT logos all over their uniforms. I'd be surprised if they kept on the "4U" name in an official capacity. You would think SKT will come up with their own team name - one that's amenable to marketing imperatives.

Gui

Poland53 Posts

April 09 2004 02:27 GMT

#43

Good, 4U isn't the coolest name ever, I hope they'll come up with something more boxerish :O

Waxangel

United States33705 Posts

April 09 2004 02:39 GMT

#44

Pro League Kick off soundly beat Pro basketball playoffs, OGN has been regularly beating the sports channels for a while.

still, the top 3 (anime, soaps, movies) cable channels are way far ahead of the rest, though OGN doing pretty well for a channel outside the big 3.

that's what I gather from articles

Grandizer

Korea (South)79 Posts

April 09 2004 03:18 GMT

#45

On April 09 2004 05:29 4.Aiur wrote:
I'm not from Korea. I've never been to Korea. I sort of know SC is big in Korea, but that's it. So, excuse my ignorance. But exactly HOW big is SC in Korea? I can't fathom that any company would get a return on this kind of investment for a game that is mostly followed by teenagers and people in their early 20's.

How often is SC on TV in Korea? Is it on "national" TV or on a cable channel? What kind of ratings does SC get in comparison to other sports or activities (what other sports are big in Korea?).

I mean, I've seen the SC bags of Doritos and SC pictures on backpacks and cans of Coke and stuff...but I really have no clue how big it is. I mean, you watch the OSL VOD's and apart from the finals, it looks like you have a few dozen, maybe 60-100 people watching. Didn't they used to broadcast from a mall or something? And even the OSL finals...do those people pay to watch? I thought they didn't...but if they do, how much? It just doesn't seem so huge to me to be able to support the kind of money being paid.

Some Korean person plz enlighten me.

Ok... I'll tell you in my poor English. This is just my opinion.

It's true that SC is really big in Korea, but it's not a national sport yet. Still many people(I think more than a half of the population) don't know or don't understand SC leagues. There are 4 major TV channels (KBS1 KBS2 MBC SBS) and they have never broadcasted Starcraft match so far. Only CATV channels, usually OGN and MBCgame, hold and broadcast SC leagues. The percentage of CATV viewer is about 25% of Korean and there are 40+ other channels in CATV.

The people who are enthusiastic to SC are generally men, under age 25. They really enjoy playing it in Bnet or internet cafes, and watch SC leagues with TV or online. The number of SC league fans is A LOT but we don't say that SC is more popular than other major pro-sports such as baseball and soccer.

Whenever I watch SC match with TV, my father says "What the hell! How can a computer game be broadcasted!" (He is 54 and I'm 24 years old) Then I say "Father, that is really alike chess or Go. It's a sport!" But he answers "Well, I still don't understand you and your generation."

However, the popularity of SC leagues is still growing (See the increasing prize money of OGN starleague final). Especially young boys are crazy about it thanks to those two TV channels. Female fans are also increasing because of some sexy gamers like Yellow or Reach.

Muhweli

Finland5328 Posts

April 09 2004 03:19 GMT

#46

hehehee =]

Gui

Poland53 Posts

April 09 2004 03:26 GMT

#47

On April 09 2004 12:18 Grandizer wrote:
(...) It's true that SC is really big in Korea, but it's not a national sport yet (...)

Klogon

MURICA15980 Posts

April 09 2004 03:28 GMT

#48

haha

FakeSteve[TPR]

Valhalla18444 Posts

April 09 2004 03:52 GMT

#49

They should paint their van black and put the word DROPSHIP on it

lmao how cheesy would that be? Imagine a StarCraft named Dropship rolling down the streets of korea.

sperix

Germany243 Posts

April 09 2004 04:07 GMT

#50

i love the real madrid comparision lol =D

{CC}StealthBlue

United States41117 Posts

April 09 2004 04:44 GMT

#51

Isn't this kind of ruining the pro scene, I mean what about the under rated teams, i.e. SouL?

Gui

Poland53 Posts

April 09 2004 05:15 GMT

#52

You could say exactly the same about other sports (football + UEFA Champions League for example). The better/the more famous, the more money they get.

Ack1027

United States7873 Posts

April 09 2004 05:58 GMT

#53

Starcraft, those vans you are talking about is an actual company. I know because I used to live on a big lake and one day when I was just crusing around on the pedal boat I saw like 5 boats labeled ' Starcraft '

Some of the owners were out so I asked them about it and they said it's a company. This is in U.S. btw.

Chevy Starcraft on the other hand will be funny as hell. Think of what they'll do for standard options. Watch VODs in the car eh?

Klogon

MURICA15980 Posts

April 09 2004 06:02 GMT

#54

They aren't designing a new car for them... it's a car that's already out. -_-

ZyPhReX

1192 Posts

April 09 2004 07:11 GMT

#55

Good deal.

SuperJongMan

Jamaica11586 Posts

April 09 2004 07:12 GMT

#56

On April 09 2004 13:44 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:
Isn't this kind of ruining the pro scene, I mean what about the under rated teams, i.e. SouL?

They aren't under-rated. Soul is weak and that's why they lack sponsors really. Amazing players but they don't quite get that edge or get someone in the top 4, last two being Jju and Chojja to my knowledge. However, 4U and KTF play really well, and hence make the money. You play better, you get paid better.