For the first time in professional basketball, the league pursued a naming rights sponsor, partnering with Carot Insurance to play its inaugural season as the Carot Jumpers. However, the organization fell into disrepute during the season when it defaulted on its KBL membership fee and failed to pay its players and staff.
The team dropped out and changed its name to Day One. The team is looking to relocate from Goyang to Busan.
Daewon’s parent company, 메이저놀이터 Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, is in corporate rehabilitation, and its chairman, Kim Yong-bin, has been detained.
The team has been in disrepair since its first season, and no company is willing to become a naming sponsor. The team tried to sell the club, but no one was willing to buy it.
Relocation was the next best option to solve the funding problem. Day One is hopeful that the local government of the new stadium will help them find a sponsor, but with this calculation in mind, negotiations for a new stadium have been slow.
Moving after just one season would be a betrayal of the fans. The Orion, the predecessor of Day One, moved to Goyang in 2011, and Goyang fans will be saying goodbye to their professional basketball team after 12 years. In addition, the team’s wage arrears continue. The biggest victims are the fans and players.
Meanwhile, the KBL will hold an extraordinary general meeting and board meeting on March 31 to discuss issues related to the Day One team.