Baseball fans brave hour-long lines for Seoul Series swag

Baseball fans braved hour-long waits for the chance to buy some Seoul Series swag on Thursday, with lines spanning the length of the ball park even as merchandise began to sell out on the last day of Major League Baseball’s week in Korea.

Fans line up for the MLB Superstore at Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul on Thursday. Inset: The wait to get into the store extended over an hour. [JIM BULLEY]

Baseball fans braved hour-long waits for the chance to buy some Seoul Series swag on Thursday, with lines spanning the length of the ball park even as merchandise began to sell out on the last day of Major League Baseball’s week in Korea.

Lines for the MLB Superstore, a large temporary structure erected outside Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul but within the ticketed area, formed the moments gates opened, snaking through the designated queue area, along a spillover area that ran the length of the store and back and down a long path along the side of the stadium.

Stocking mainly Seoul Series-specific — although by the time this reporter got inside all non-team specific clothing had sold out — Dodgers and Padres merch, the Superstore was one of the only places where apparel bearing the official Seoul Series patch could be bought.

The actual entrance to the MLB Superstore line at Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul. It took 25 minutes of waiting in line to reach the official start of the line on Thursday. [JIM BULLEY]

The New Era Korea online store also has some products, as does MLB license FnF’s online store, but most items had also sold out of press time.

Despite the long wait and uncertainty over what would actually be left in time, the atmosphere in the line was upbeat. With wind chill dropping temperatures to 7 degrees Celsius (44 degrees Fahrenheit) fans shared hot packs and huddled for warmth, quickly bridging language gaps between Korean, Japanese, English and Spanish.

The majority of people in the line were already decked out in Dodgers or Padres merch, but were willing to line up for a memento exclusive to the Seoul series. Alongside the Dodgers and Padres gear — with a strong focus on Shohei Ohtani and Kim Ha-seong — the Superstore also sold a limited range of products from other teams including the New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays and Lee Jung-hoo San Francisco Giants jerseys.

The line for the MLB Superstore extends out of the roped off waiting area and around the perimeter of Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul. [JIM BULLEY]

Thursday’s game is the second in the two-game series between the Dodgers and Padres that officially opens the 2024 MLB season. The two teams also played a series of exhibition games here earlier in the week.

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