In just a few years, interest in wrestling has changed dramatically. Recently, the footsteps of fans visiting the stadium for each tournament have noticeably increased. The stadium, which used to be only for players and officials, is now crowded with fans메이저놀이터. The age of the fans has also become younger, and above all, the increase in female fans is remarkable.
The wrestling entertainment effect is great. As a symbol of national traditional sports, it has steadily been broadcasted on TV with content that does not fall out every holiday, but recently, broadcasting dominated by sports entertainment is attracting attention as a trend.
<The Joy of Ssireum>, which aired on KBS2 for about three months from November 2019, announced the start of wrestling entertainment. The average rating was 2.81%, and the highest rating was 4.2%. Considering that it is an unpopular event, it is a great promotion. During the public recording, I had to overcome the competition rate of 10 to 1 or more (580 seats) to ‘intuitively’ in the public hall of the new building of KBS.
At the beginning of the broadcast, wrestling stars such as Hwang Chan-seop, Huh Seon-haeng, Lim Tae-hyuk, Lee Seung-ho, and Choi Jeong-man, who had already formed a thick fan base, were the driving force behind the box office success. Since then, viewers have fallen in love with the charm of wrestling, such as meticulous fighting in the sand and spectacular techniques.
The female wrestling entertainment <Queen of Ssireum>, which aired on tvN Story for two months from July 2022, also gained popularity, and from October, <The King of Ssireum> on tvN Story and <Cheonhailjangsa> Season 1 will be broadcast on Channel A. The competition got stuck. After <World’s First Market>, Channel A produced <World’s First Market – World’s First Decision Match> as a special feature for the Lunar New Year 2023, and currently <World’s First Market> season 2 is broadcasting due to popularity.
The wrestling world also welcomes the entertainment effect. Ssireum, which had the image of an ‘old sport’ played by big players, became a hot topic as it became known that ‘handsome’ players with strong muscles actually played an active role. In addition to the thrilling game content, some YouTube videos have received millions of views. There are not a few players who receive as much support as idols.
TV performers who fell in love with the charm of wrestling are now no different from public relations ambassadors for wrestling. Hong Seong-heun of the baseball team that won Season 1 of <World’s Best Marketer> said, “Only those who have tried Ssireum know the charm of ssireum, in which people fight skin-to-skin, pass over opponents, shake off dirt from fallen opponents, and lift them up by holding hands. will,” he said. Woo Ji-won of the basketball team, who was called the ‘Prince of the Court’ during his active career, said, “I thought wrestling was just a sport to win if you were strong, but it’s not that. I’ve been wrestling for more than half a year, and it’s so much fun that I can’t sleep at night.”
As the Korean Ssireum Association actively supports production as a policy, the popularity of wrestling entertainment that has been verified as popular content is expected to continue for the time being.