The KBO League, South Korea's professional baseball circuit pushing toward 10 million spectators for a third consecutive year, is set to surpass 7 million spectators as early as Monday in the fewest games ever. The milestone reflects an influx of young female fans in their 20s and 30s, the growing perception of baseball as a "cost-effective leisure activity," and aggressive marketing by clubs. As sellouts continue, ticket revenue is also rising.
This season, with 53% of the full schedule completed as of Sunday, professional baseball recorded 218 sellouts across 384 games, for a sellout rate of about 57%. That is 11 percentage points higher than last year's full regular-season sellout rate of 46% (331 of 720 games).
Having already set a record for the fewest games to reach attendance milestones in units of 1 million, professional baseball has also booked a record for surpassing 7 million spectators in the fewest games. The KBO League drew 6,953,564 spectators across 384 games through Friday.
The rising attendance is translating into revenue. This year's cumulative ticket revenue reached 129.31360449 billion won, surging 19% from 109.10953495 billion won over the same number of games last year. If this trend continues, professional baseball's ticket revenue is expected to surpass 200 billion won for a second consecutive year.
Ticket revenue rose 19% for the league-leading LG Twins (960,568 spectators) and 28% for the second-ranked Samsung Lions (904,271 spectators), both approaching 1 million home spectators this year. Ticket revenue also jumped 28% for the SSG Landers and 27% for the Kiwoom Heroes, despite their poor records.
Riding a wave of popularity, professional baseball will take a brief break starting July 10 for the All-Star recess.
