Cute Characters Cheer On Korean Baseball

Cross-licensing programs pairing characters and sports properties have been on the upswing globally, with more teams and leagues and more character IPs getting involved. In South Korea, such initiatives are regular features of the pro baseball season each year. 

Merchandise almost always depicts the characters wearing the uniforms of the respective teams. The product assortment typically features 10 to 20 items from a range including: apparel, such as replica uniforms, t-shirts, hoodies, and ball caps for men, women, kids, and/or pets; social expessions and novelties such as computer monitor dolls, keychains, photoframes, can coolers, badges, emblems, patches, and marking kits (which allow fans to customize apparel with branded patches); game-day and cheering merchandise such as scarves, handheld electric fans, ticket holders, headbands, seat cushions, cooling towels, and cheering bats; and bags such as drawstring pouches and travel duffles. 

Here are some of the partnerships taking place this season:

• The LG Twins, which play in Seoul, are currently featuring the classic Japanese character Anpanman (Hot Bun Man) and his villain counterpart Baikinman (Bacteria Man). The products are being sold in a pop-up store at the stadium as well as online. Overseen by content corporation Choirock Contents Company, the merchandise is available for a three-day stretch this week. The characters also threw out the first pitch in a game. 
• The Samsung Lions, of Daegu, paired with Kakao’s Ryan, the lion character from the mobile telecom company’s cast of Kakao Friends characters, in July. The promotion celebrates the 10th anniversaries of both Daegu Samsung Lions Park, the Lions’ home stadium, and Ryan. Merchandise, which extends to 15 different products, is sold through the Berriz Shop, the fan shop of K-culture platform Berriz. 
• The Kiwoom Heroes, based in Seoul, paired with the Naver Webtoon characters Chunbae and Friends in April. In addition to a merchandise pop-up, the initiative included KakaoTalk stickers (character emojis), a first pitch by Chunbae, and special uniforms, all featured during a series between the Kiwoom Heroes and Lotte Giants. The team and characters had first gotten together in 2025, and this year’s initiative builds on that program. Chunbae and Friends are cats transformed into humans that star in the Naver Webtoon series Nyanhanmanja (Meow Man). One of the characters had gone viral as a fan of the Heroes.
• The Kia Tigers, of Gwangju, paired with the webtoon Tintintinkle and its characters Tintin and Tinkle, two elementary school-attending cats created by South Korean artist Nan. The series, which is set in the 2000s, got its start in 2020, and the character Tintin had gone viral in a meme showing him wearing a Tigers shirt. The collaboration includes 16 products, among them a set of nostalgic games that bring fond memories to fans who used to play them in school in the 2000s. This group of 20-somethings has become a primary fan base of the property. 
• The Doosan Bears, of Seoul, held a festival around the character Manggeureojin Gom (also known as Manggom). The character, a bear, is a frequent collaboration partner with the team. The Manggom Festival occurred during a six-game home stand in August and included character-branded uniforms and a full range of merchandise, as well as activities like a Manggom Bears Sketch Contest, character appearances, special ticket designs, on-field photo sessions, and more. Manggom is a chubby and clumsy bear created by South Korean illustrator Yurang, who has collaborated with Kakao, Crocs, and fashion label SPAO, among others. 
• SSG Landers, an Incheon-based team, paired this year with Ganadi, a puppy character created by a Korean designer known as Bdemgmr who oversees a wide lifestyle licensing program. The team has done a number of other puppy-related partnerships throughout 2025 and 2026, including with Kkamja, a character created by Korean design brand Jobeam Studio that has become a big hit in emojis and webtoons, and Gromit of the British duo Wallace and Gromit. The club’s mascot, Randy, is also a dog and is integrated into the promotions as well. 

All of these teams, and the four others that play in the KBO, the highest-level pro baseball league in South Korea, run one or more initiatives such as these each year, sometimes with the same characters recurring and sometimes with new characters introduced into the mix. The promotions are designed to appeal to consumers of all ages and all degrees of baseball fandom. 

The same phenomenon is true in Japan, where one of the most recent examples is the Chiba Lotte Marines’ merchandise featuring the character Esther Bunny, which debuted at Marines stores on September 1. The team, based in Chiba City and playing in Nippon Professional Baseball’s Pacific League, is featuring t-shirts, face and handkerchief towels, tote bags, stickers, and plush and acrylic keychains depicting the character, created by Korean-American artist Esther Kim, in a Marines uniform. 

RaugustReports will not post on Monday, September 7, 2026, the Labor Day holiday in the U.S. We will be back with our twice-weekly insights on Thursday, September 10.