The year 2023 was a dismal one for professional sports fans from Busan. For starters, the Lotte Giants, one of the KBO's most popular franchises, missed the postseason yet again. They finished in seventh place with 68 wins and 76 losses (a .472 winning percentage).
Lotte's disappointment was made up for by another professional sports team with ties to Busan, the Busan IPark. Busan won the first leg of the relegation playoffs 2-1 against Suwon FC at 7 p.m. on June 6 at Busan Asiadju Stadium. In the history of the promotion playoffs, six of the seven teams that won the first leg went on to become the eventual winners. The odds of winning were a whopping 85.7%.
Busan had the advantage, but they couldn't get over the final hurdle. Busan went down 2-5 in extra time in the second leg of the relegation playoffs against Suwon at Suwon Sports Complex on Sept. 9. With a combined score of 4-6 in the first and second leg, Suwon clinched their spot in the K League 1. Busan will continue to play in the second division next year.
Busan I-Park, the #1 promotion playoff team, six times
Busan IPark is one of the most prestigious clubs in the K League. Founded in 1979, the club has a storied history. The team has won the K League 1 title four times and the FA Cup once.
However, Busan suffered a shocking relegation in the 2015 season. They finished 11th out of 12 clubs with five wins, 11 draws, and 22 losses (26 points) and were forced to play a relegation playoff. In the relegation playoffs, Busan faced Suwon FC and lost 0-1 in the first leg and 0-2 in the second leg. Busan was relegated for the first time in the club's history.
Since then, Busan has worked tirelessly to return to the top flight. They played six promotion playoffs. They won promotion to the K League 1 in 2019, but were immediately relegated in 2020. This season, they were able to clinch direct promotion with a first-place finish, but a 1-1 draw with Chungbuk Cheongju in the final game pushed them into the relegation playoffs. As a result, Busan was the victim of a Suwon FC upset. 카지노
#2 Lotte Giants, sixth consecutive year of postseason failure
Lotte made the postseason every season from 2008 to 2012 under Jerry Royster and Yang Seung-ho. In 2011 and 2012, they made it as far as the playoffs, just below the Korean Series. After five years away from fall baseball, Lotte returned to the postseason in 2017 with a third-place finish in the semifinals.
Since the 2017 season, Lotte hasn't received a single postseason invitation. For six years, they had to watch other teams play fall baseball. In the 2019 season, they suffered the humiliation of finishing in last place with a record of 48 wins, 93 losses, and two ties (a winning percentage of 0.340). The start of the 2023 season was promising for Lotte. In April, Lotte won eight straight games for the first time in 13 years and topped the KBO for the first time in 11 years. That was it. In June, Lotte's performance plummeted and they fell from the top of the standings. With their momentum gone, they fell just short of the top five.
#3 Busan and Lotte have hope for next year
There is hope. The good news is that both Busan and Lotte showed promise this season. Busan did not perform well last season, finishing 10th in the K League 2. After a poor 2022 season, they rebounded this season under Park Jin-seop and finished second in the K League 2.
Lotte is no different. Already preparing for next season, Lotte is desperate to become a powerhouse. They hired Kim Tae-hyung, a "championship hired gun" who led the Doosan Bears to the Korean Series for seven straight years. Ahn Chi-hong, their main second baseman, left for the Hanwha Eagles, but they held onto franchise star Jeon Jun-woo, who became a free agent.
Busan's goal for next season is obviously to win the K League 2 title and gain direct promotion to the K League 1. For Lotte, a postseason berth is more realistic than the Korean Series. If both clubs can accomplish this, Busan fans will likely travel to the stadium to cheer them on.
Even though the teams aren't performing as well as they should, they both have strong fan bases. Both Busan and Lotte have strong fan bases. Busan has had more than 100,000 fans in attendance for two consecutive seasons in 2008 and 2009. Lotte is incredibly popular, with a total of 891,745 fans in the 2023 season. Both teams will be eager to see if they can improve on this next year.