As the summer heat eases and the race for the final standings in South Korea's professional baseball league heats up, retailers are stepping up marketing aimed at the "autumn baseball" boom.
GS25, the convenience store chain operated by GS Retail, has strengthened on-site marketing to keep pace with rising interest in the game, industry sources said on the 17th. From the 11th to the 13th, GS25 held the "2026 GS25 Sports Festa" in front of the first- and third-base infield gates at Jamsil Baseball Stadium, running an ice cream promotion. The effort paid off. GS25 analyzed sales at Jamsil Baseball Stadium and about 10 nearby stores from Aug. 11 to 13, and found they rose 25.5% from the same days of the week during July 28 to 30, when the heat wave was at its peak.
Separately, through a partnership with the Hanwha Eagles, the company exclusively released eight character goods, including a stool cooler bag, a mini cooler pack bag, an aqua key ring and an umbrella. Six of the items could be bought through advance reservation on the "Woori Dongne GS" app from the 14th to the 19th, after which all products will be available at the Hanwha Life Ballpark and Time World stores.
At the Jamsil Tower store, an outlet specializing in LG Twins merchandise, customers who buy LG Twins goods using GS Pay during August and September will receive 30% of the payment back in GS ALL Points. "As interest in autumn baseball grows along with the cooler weather, more fans are returning to the ballpark," said Choi Seung-hoon, a manager on GS Retail's brand marketing team. "We will communicate more closely with customers through sports and offer them a different kind of enjoyment."
Convenience store chain CU has joined the same trend. From the 1st to the 16th of this month, CU teamed up with the professional baseball team Doosan Bears to sell related goods through the weekly pop-up on its own commerce app, Pocket CU. The lineup consisted of seven items featuring the team mascot "Cheol-ung," including a home-run bat ice cream, a portable backpack, a picnic mat, a camp chair and a Bluetooth keyboard.
South Korea's professional baseball is on track for its most successful season ever. In the first half of the 2026 KBO League, 7,633,775 spectators attended 424 games, quickly surpassing last year's record of the first-ever 7 million spectators, and on the 19th of last month the league topped 8 million spectators in the fewest games in its history (443 games).
Retailers are diving into the competition to partner with professional baseball because people in their 20s and 30s, who are driving the sport's popularity, have emerged as the core buyers of team merchandise. Of the customers who bought KBO collaboration goods that CJ Onstyle released at the end of March, 64% were in their 20s and 30s. During the Jamsil All-Star Game on the 10th and 11th, the company opened a pop-up store and used QR codes to link a mobile promotion, connecting its online and offline channels.
Fashion brands are also active in such partnerships. Samsung C&T's "8 Seconds" teamed up with the Samsung Lions to unveil more than 20 items, including windbreakers and varsity jackets, while "JanSport," distributed by Musinsa Trading, released a backpack collection with the LG Twins, who are aiming to reach the autumn postseason. On the 23rd, CGV will hold a "KBO Baseball Day Viewing Party" at Times Square in Yeongdeungpo, attended by KBO Commissioner Huh Koo-yeon and national team manager Ryu Ji-hyun, broadcasting the LG-Hanwha game live across a three-screen setup.
