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NC Dinos extend deadline for home city to meet demands amid relocation threat

Published: 30 Jun. 2025, 20:15

The NC Dinos celebrates after winning 16-5 against the Hanwha Eagles at Changwon NC Park in Changwon, South Gyeongsang, on June 1. [YONHAP]

The NC Dinos have agreed to extend the deadline for their home city to meet their demands while continuing their talks with other cities for possible relocation, officials said Monday.

Senior members of the Dinos management and officials from the city of Changwon said the municipal government has been granted extra time to review and devise plans to implement 21 demands made by the KBO club.

The Dinos have threatened to move out of Changwon if their demands aren't met and set Monday as the deadline for the preliminary response from the city.

The Dinos' demands include adding seats to their home stadium, Changwon NC Park, adding parking spaces and improving fan accessibility to the stadium by expanding public transit routes.

The city estimates that meeting those demands will require about 100 billion won ($73.9 million).

Following the tragic death of a fan during a KBO game at Changwon NC Park on March 29, the Dinos spent the next two months on the road while safety inspections and maintenance work took place at the stadium.

In light of the incident, Changwon faced criticism for shunning responsibility for running the stadium even though it owns the facility. Later on, baseball fans hammered Changwon for dragging its feet when the Dinos were trying to determine a return date following the end of inspections.

The NC Dinos celebrate after winning 16-5 against the Hanwha Eagles at Changwon NC Park in Changwon, South Gyeongsang, on June 1. [YONHAP]

Upon returning to Changwon NC Park, Dinos CEO Lee Jin-man announced at a press conference he was exploring the possibility of relocating the team to another city and claimed that the ball club had been "treated unreasonably" by Changwon.

After the threat was issued, Jang Geum-yong, acting mayor of Changwon, and Park Wan-soo, governor of South Gyeongsang Province, have both vowed to do their best to ensure the Dinos will not leave.

A Dinos representative said the city has been working hard to best meet the ball club's demands and added, "We've been having concrete working-level talks with Changwon and we will take our time with them."

The Dinos previously acknowledged that they had received offers from "multiple municipalities" to relocate and that some of the conditions were even better than what the Dinos are demanding from Changwon.

The team representative said the Dinos will continue talks with the other cities while negotiations with Changwon are ongoing.

Yonhap