The Korean pro soccer team has entered a stage to wrap up the season amid the all-time high popularity. Suwon Samsung is also showing off its unwavering presence in the second division of the K League, while its partner Puma, a global sports brand that has been accompanying him for six years, has also maintained its position and is drawing attention as a supporter of the bid for promotion to both sides.
According to the Professional Football Federation, the total number of spectators based on the 30th round of the K League 2 this season was 670,000, an increase of 75.6% compared to the same period last year. Suwon effect cannot be left out. 14,196 people gathered in the first second division home opener since its foundation. It was the largest crowd ever in the K League 2, which was broken again by Suwon in July. Due to the renovation of the facility, the last home game of the year was held at Suwon World Cup Stadium, where 14,866 people visited.
Suwon has attracted an average of 10,330 people to its home games this year. Last year’s average K-League 2 attendance was 2,366, but when the Blue Wings game took place, the K-League’s overall popularity and revitalization of local commercial districts attracted around 10,000 people. Seoul E-Land, Ansan Greeners, Chungbuk Cheongju FC, FC Anyang, Seongnam FC, and Cheonan City FC set a record for the most spectatorship in a home game thanks to Suwon supporters who sold out away seats in an instant.
Puma is working on various projects for fans and local communities in collaboration with the club, going beyond sponsoring equipment with technology that it has accumulated with its soccer history.
For the second consecutive year since last year, the team has launched a special collection under the theme of the supporter’s slogan “NO REGRETS ABOUT THIS LOVE” with the local culture-based street brand “LIBLY.” The “PUMA BY LIBLY” collection, which was released earlier this month, was sold out immediately after its release and is well received as an example of collaboration that showed deep respect for the bond between the club and the fandom. The team overpowered Anyang, the league’s leader, in a home game wearing the uniform, saving the spark of promotion.
Throughout this year, Puma has organized a variety of events with the club to entertain fans. In July, he visited the clubhouse with Cho Won-hee, a legend from Suwon who runs a YouTube channel of 470,000 subscribers through the “Ultra Truck” event and had a meaningful time with the players of the U-15 youth team under the club.
The team was given “Ultra 5,” a soccer shoe that concentrates Puma’s latest technology, and a special challenge was held to experience excellent product power in person.
Earlier in June, the club sponsored the Blue Sis Cup, a women’s amateur futsal tournament in Suwon, and in October, it will also join the club as an official sponsor of the Suwon Samsung University Champions League 2024, a college student amateur soccer tournament. Puma has also been steadily helping expand the base of soccer in the community by running the Puma Town futsal field in Suwon, known as the “football city.”
Starfield Suwon, a shopping mall that opened in Suwon early this year, opened a global flagship store with a concept of “Field of Play” that utilizes the brand’s heritage, and has started to strengthen links between Puma, Suwon clubs, and Suwon City. The store will be used to create a venue for communication in various ways, including holding fan signings for Suwon’s team.
Recently, he has produced photos of his flagship franchise soccer shoes “Ultra 5” and “Future 7” with Suwon’s flagship players such as Kang Hyun-mook and Jang Ho-ik.
“Puma has been working with soccer development for 76 years since its foundation. It is well aware of Suwon’s significance and the specialness of its fandom in the K-League,” a Puma Korea official said. “Puma plans to carry out marketing activities to enable clubs and fans to communicate with each other in various ways by combining its heritage and technological capabilities as a global sports brand.” 메이저사이트
The club is committed to repay the promotion with constant support from fans and support from Puma. Immediately after Byun’s inauguration, he had no loss in 11 matches (five wins and six draws) and succeeded in transforming the mood. Analysts say that he has stabilized not only his stellar performance of seven wins, eight draws and three losses under Byun’s leadership.
He is currently in sixth place (48 points), three points behind Chungnam Asan FC (51 points), which is directly in the promotion playoff (PO), and can seek promotion depending on the remaining schedule results.