Due to the increased popularity of the K-League, the ‘2023 K-League Mascot Captain Election’ is expected to be more intense.
Since 2020, the Korea Professional Football Federation (hereinafter referred to as the federation) has been conducting the ‘K League Mascot Captain Election’ as a fan vote for the mascots of all K League clubs. It began with the intention of imprinting the story and background on fans, rather than using the mascots of all K-League clubs only on the day of the match. This year, the class president election is already in its fourth year.
Interest in the mascot class president election is steadily increasing. In the first class president election in 2020, a total of 12,377 fans participated and a total of 85,125 votes were cast. In the second class president election in 2021, a total of 20,745 people participated and a total of 257,604 votes came out. Every year, a new mascot is released, and new content is added, such as the mascot’s foreign affairs renewal and celebrities’ declaration of support for the relay, drawing attention from fans.
This year’s class president election will be even more intense. Suwon Samsung’s ‘Agileon’, who succeeded in winning the 3rd term by dramatically beating Ulsan’s ‘Mita’ in last year’s text voting, obtained the qualification for honorary class president and will not run for the final election. ‘Mita’, who unfortunately stayed in 2nd place last year, and ‘Soedori’ of Pohang Steelers, who only had experience with vice-captain, are aiming for the position of class president. It is expected that candidates who change the concept or run for a new run, such as Gimcheon’Gun Shu-woong’, Daejeon’Jaju’, Cheonan City’Narangi’, and Chungbuk Cheongju’Chava’, are expected to be strong.
Campaign campaigns for each candidate have already begun. Bucheon ‘Her’ opened an election office at Bucheon Sports Complex Station and is actively conducting campaign activities. Kim Cheon is campaigning with a declaration of support from the athletes and local mascots. Gimcheon players made a surprise appearance in the mascot mask, and Gimcheon mascot ‘Oh Sam-i’, Korea Expressway Corporation’s high-pass volleyball team mascot ‘HI’, 먹튀검증 TS Korea Transportation Safety Authority mascot ‘Tangel Junior’ and Korea Forest Service mascot ‘Guru’ played the game. On the same day, they mobilized and declared their support.
There are also mascots who actively use social media (SNS) to campaign. Pohang ‘Soedori’ is posting an Instagram post with the concept of an old man. Ulsan ‘Mita’ followed the trend and produced various internet memes, and Incheon ‘Uti’ posted an Instagram account to the opposing team. It showed provocative content and received a favorable response from fans.
In addition, ‘Rika’ in Daegu and ‘Her’ in Bucheon released mascot sound sources that are easy for children’s fans to sing along to, aiming for children’s hearts. In particular, Daegu’s ‘Lika Song’ was registered on major domestic music sites such as Melon, Genie Music, and Bugs.