KBO surpasses 4 mil. fans in record pace

Fans attend a Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game between the home team Kia Tigers and the Doosan Bears at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, Sunday. Yonhap

The Korean baseball league said Sunday it has topped 4 million in its regular-season attendance in a record-setting pace.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said its attendance for the 2025 season reached 4,006,296 after a record 230 games. The previous mark for the fewest games to 4 million had been 255 games during the 2012 season.

This year, the KBO reached each of the 1 million (60 games), 2 million (118 games) and 3 million (175 games) milestones in a record number of games.

The league went from 3 million to 4 million in just 55 games, a new record by 10 games.

Through Sunday's action, the KBO is averaging 17,419 fans per game, up 20 percent from a season ago when the league set a single-season record with 10.88 million fans.

The Samsung Lions are leading the 10-team league with 616,310 fans so far, followed by the two Seoul-based clubs, the LG Twins with 547,570 fans and the Doosan Bears with 464,237.

Those three are also the only teams averaging over 20,000 fans per game: 22,011 for the Lions, 21,903 for the Twins and 20,184 for the Bears.

The Lions play at 24,000-seat Daegu Samsung Lions Park in the southeastern city of Daegu and they have sold out 21 out of their 28 home games so far.

Only the Hanwha Eagles, based in the brand new Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark in the central city of Daejeon with 17,000 seats, have recorded more sellouts, with 22 out of 25 home games. On Sunday, the Eagles broke their own league record by selling out their 18th consecutive home game.

The Twins and the Bears are co-tenants of the 23,750-seat Jamsil Baseball Stadium in the capital city. The Twins ranked third in the league with 15 sellouts.

Overall, 114 out of 230 games this season, including three out of five games on Sunday, have been played before sellout crowds.

For Sunday, in addition to the Eagles' home game against the SSG Landers, the rival showdown between the Lions and the Lotte Giants at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan, some 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, had a sellout crowd of 22,669 fans.

In Gwangju, some 270 kilometers south of Seoul, the Kia Tigers hosted the Doosan Bears before a sellout crowd of 20,500 fans at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field.

The KBO set a record with 221 sellouts in 2024. (Yonhap)