The top South Korean baseball league surpassed the 10-million mark in attendance Sunday, clearing yet another milestone in its record-breaking season.
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said its 10 clubs have now combined for 10,020,758 fans after four games on Sunday.
Prior to Sunday, the league’s attendance sat at 9,943,674.
Three of the games sold out Sunday. The Kia Tigers hosted the Kiwoom Heroes before a packed house of 20,500 fans at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, some 270 kilometers south of Seoul.
The SSG Landers and the Samsung Lions drew 23,000 fans at Incheon SSG Landers Field in Incheon, just west of the capital. In the southeastern city of Busan, the Lotte Giants and the Hanwha Eagles had 22,758 fans at Sajik Baseball Stadium.
Changwon NC Park in Changwon, just west of Busan, had 10,826 fans for the game between the home team NC Dinos and the LG Twins, about 7,000 short of a sellout.
This Sept. 7, 2024, file photo shows a sellout crowd of 18,700 fans watching the KT Wiz host t
he Doosan Bears in a Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, just south of Seoul. (Yonhap)
This Sept. 7, 2024, file photo shows a sellout crowd of 18,700 fans watching the KT Wiz host the Doosan Bears in a Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, just south of Seoul. (Yonhap)
The KBO established a single-season attendance record Aug. 18 with 8,475,664 fans, eclipsing the previous mark of 8,400,688 from 2017.
Fans have kept flocking to ballparks around the country. Through Sunday, all 10 clubs were averaging at least 10,000 fans per home game, and the leaguewide average was 14,934 fans per game, which would be a new record by about 1,500.
A record six teams have exceeded 1 million fans for the season, led by the defending champions Twins with 1,281,420.
Through Sunday, teams have recorded 195 sellouts, another record figure, or about 29 percent of all games. The Eagles have sold out 43 out of their 66 home games so far at the 12,000-seat Han
wha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon, about 140 kilometers south of Seoul.
Source: Yonhap News Agency