SK Wyverns officially renamed SSG Landers

The SK Wyverns have officially been renamed the SSG Landers, named after new owner Shinsegae Group's e-commerce arm SSG.com and in tribute to the city of Incheon and its airport and port.

[SHINSEGAE GROUP]

The SK Wyverns have officially been renamed the SSG Landers, named after new owner Shinsegae Group's e-commerce arm SSG.com and in tribute to the city of Incheon and its airport and port.

Shinsegae Group announced on Friday that the Incheon club would be rebranded as the SSG Landers to express the team's "willingness to become a new symbol of Incheon," famous for both Incheon International Airport and Incheon Port.

The name Landers is also a reference to the new owner's plan to "land" a new baseball culture in Incheon, according to Shinsegae Group.

Shinsegae Group and SK Telecom announced at the end of January that Shinsegae was buying the Incheon-based Wyverns to be managed by supermarket chain Emart.

Emart bought the Wyverns for 135.2 billion won ($122 million). The retail company paid 100 billion won for a 100-percent stake in the club and 35.2 billion won for facilities and properties. The company also paid 6 billion won to register with the KBO, a process that was also completed earlier on Friday.

Before the Landers name was announced, there had been rumors that Shinsegae might name the team after electronics store chain Electro Mart, calling the team the SSG Electros. That name would have likely come complete with existing store mascot Electroman.

As the retail giant chose to go in a different direction, it's unclear whether Electroman will have a role to play in the franchise. Emart is yet to reveal a new team logo, branding or uniforms, or announce the mascot and new name for the team's ballpark.

With exhibition games beginning on March 20, Emart will likely release those details over the coming weeks.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]