Seoul: The top South Korean baseball league surpassed the 10 million mark in attendance Saturday for the second consecutive year. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced that its 10 clubs have now drawn a combined total of 10,088,590 after four of the five games on Saturday were sold out.
According to Yonhap News Agency, prior to Saturday, the league’s attendance stood at 9,987,273. Last year, the KBO set its single-season record with 10,887,705 fans. With the regular season set to end on September 30, it appears only a matter of time before that record is broken.
This season, the KBO has cleared each million mark at a record pace, reaching the 10 million milestone in 587 games compared to 671 games the previous season. The league had already set a sellout record for a season on July 25 with its 224th sellout, surpassing the previous record of 221 set in 2024. Following Saturday’s games, there have now been 278 sellouts this year.
The first-place LG Twins faced the defending champions Kia Tigers at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, with 20,500 fans attending. The Hanwha Eagles extended their own league record for most sellouts by a team in a season with their 50th sellout, hosting the SSG Landers in front of 17,000 fans at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark.
The Samsung Lions posted their 45th sellout of the season, second only to the Eagles, as they hosted the Kiwoom Heroes with 24,000 fans at Daegu Samsung Lions Park. In Changwon, the NC Dinos and the Lotte Giants played in front of 17,983 fans at Changwon NC Park, marking the fifth sellout there this year.
In Seoul, the Doosan Bears faced the visiting KT Wiz before 21,834 fans at Jamsil Baseball Stadium, just 1,916 fans short of a sellout. The Lions, Twins, Giants, Bears, and Eagles have each surpassed 1 million fans, with the Landers close behind at 991,765. The Tigers have drawn 911,780 fans. The 2024 season saw a record six clubs each drawing over a million fans.