Samsung Lions break KBO attendance record

Fans watch a Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game between the home team Samsung Lions and the Kiwoom Heroes at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in the southeastern city of Daegu, Sept. 5, in this photo provided by the Lions. Yonhap

The Samsung Lions have broken the single-season attendance record in South Korean baseball.

The Lions said Saturday their overall home attendance reached 1,401,262 after they defeated the Kiwoom Heroes 8-3 before a sellout crowd of 24,000 the previous night at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, 235 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

The previous record in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) was 1,397,499 set by the LG Twins in 2024.

The Lions have 10 more home games left this regular season, which is scheduled to end Sept. 30. They are leading the KBO this year with an average of 22,972 fans per game and have the second-most sellouts with 47, eight behind the Hanwha Eagles.

The Lions are in the thick of a battle for a postseason spot. After Friday's win, they are in fourth place at 64-61-2 (wins-losses-ties) but are only one game ahead of fifth-place KT Wiz and 1 1/2 games better than sixth-ranked Lotte Giants. The top five clubs will advance to the postseason in October.

Two other clubs this season, the Giants (1,380,572) and the Twins (1,379,236), are also closing in on the 1.4 million plateau.

Also Friday night, the KBO set a new league attendance record with 10,901,173 fans, surpassing the previous mark of 10,887,705 from the 2024 season.