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Tobacco firm steps up to the plate
February 29, 2008
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Woori Heroes are the new team joining the Korea Baseball Organization for the 2008 season. With venture capitalist Centennial Investment as the owner, local company Woori Tobacco lent its name to the team yesterday after signing a sponsorship deal worth 30 billion won ($32 million) over three years on Feb. 21. “Everyone can be a hero on this team,” explained Hong Won-gi, president of Woori Tobacco. The new uniform was also unveiled yesterday. The team’s logo features an interlocking W and T that stand for Woori Tobacco. The uniform was designed by Korean sportswear brand FnC Kolon, which on Wednesday became another sponsor for the new ball club. Kolon will provide clothing and equipment but no further details were disclosed yesterday. The home jerseys are white tops and white pants with burgundy caps. Their road uniforms are burgundy tops and light gray pants. The third jersey features charcoal gray shirts and white pants. The uniforms will bear the logo of “Activ,” a Kolon clothing brand. Korean law prohibits tobacco manufacturers from advertising on television, radio or in newspapers or publications that target women and young readers. The companies, however, are allowed to sponsor cultural or sports events but are banned from advertising specific products through those events. There is no specific rule against placing a company logo on sports uniforms. Hong admitted that he decided to drop the word “tobacco” because of some concerns about possible negative public opinion on the sponsorship. “We understand that not everyone is happy to see a tobacco company sponsoring a baseball team,” he said. After Woori’s deal with the ball club was announced last week, the Government Youth Commission released a statement arguing that Woori’s sponsorship would be a bad influence on young baseball fans. General manager Park Noh-jun pleaded for more understanding from the public. “Let me put it this way: We had a difficult time finding a sponsor, and Woori stepped up to be the closer,” he said. “Mr. Hong wanted to help keep this an eight-team league and he wanted to help professional baseball in Korea.” Hong echoed the sentiment, saying, “We don’t have specific figures how much financial impact this deal will bring us. We just want to contribute to baseball.” According to Hong, Woori has the option to renegotiate the sponsorship deal with Centennial when the current contract expires in 2010. And he said if another company presents a better deal, “Woori could step out of the picture because we can’t possibly satisfy everyone.” Lee Jang-seok, president of Centennial, handled sponsorship questions. The company had said there would be others signed to smaller sponsorship deals, but Lee said he couldn’t reveal any details “because talks are still ongoing” with candidates. Besides uniforms and money, Park said his club “will be about more than just wins and losses.” “We want to play fun and exciting baseball, whether we win or lose,” he said. “Korean ball has to date been about managers. But our team will be about players, and front office staff will be fully behind them.” In other baseball news yesterday, the KBO announced the schedule for the 2008 season. Opening Day is scheduled for March 29. The Beijing Olympics forced the KBO’s first March start in 22 years. The top four teams from last season will host the bottom four clubs on opening day. Each team will play 126 games and all weekday games will start at 6:30 p.m. From March to May, weekend and holiday games will start at 2 p.m., and from June to October, games will begin at 5 p.m. By Yoo Jee-ho Staff Reporter [jeeho@joongang.co.kr] |
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