Move Over China — Koreans Dig Fantasy, Too
The rapid growth of fantasy sports in North America have pushed the industry’s boundaries increasingly abroad in recent years, particularly toward the Far East, where baseball is popular and the NBA has gained a foothold.
According to a Thursday story in The Korea Times, however, it isn’t just China and Japan that fantasy providers should pursue. Apparently South Koreans are increasingly taking part in fantasy endeavors as well.
“Whenever I am free, I spend time with my face glued to my computer, checking the updated numbers of players on my squad,” Lee Seung-hyup, who has played fantasy baseball for two years, told the reporter. That quote could just as easily have come from any of the millions of Americans (or Canadians, Brits, etc.) who play fantasy in the various seasons.
Although the report mentions Korean fantasy “geeks” playing American football and baseball through sites such as Yahoo, Korean internet leader NHN reportedly launched its own salary-cap fantasy baseball game in April — called My Baseball League – using the 487 players from the eight teams in the Korean Baseball Organization.
(Somewhat off-topic: Wow, 61 players per team? I thought only the Yankees did that.)
The game drew a reported 80,000 users, a response which has spurred the company to add a draft-style format for next season.
Obviously, this increasing global reach of fantasy sports not only helps providers of the games, but also creates new entry points for potential advertisers looking to market their products and/or services internationally.
Particularly in these rocky times for many Americans, it’s encouraging to see this industry thriving.
Tags: fantasy baseball, fantasy football, fantasy sports, fantasy sports business, fantasy sports industry, korean baseball organization, mlb, my baseball league, nfl, nhn, south korea, the korea times, yahoo
