sports
KBO Tops 8 Million Fans in Record 443 Games This Season
The Korea Baseball Organization reached 8,007,967 total attendance after five games on July 19. The league hit the mark faster than last year's pace and remains on track to exceed the 2025 single-season record.
Jul 19, 9:01 AM·1m read1 source
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The Korea Baseball Organization crossed the eight-million attendance threshold in 443 games this season, 22 fewer than the previous record of 465 games set in 2025. Yonhap reported that the league set its single-season attendance record last year with just over 12.3 million fans and remains on pace to surpass that figure in 2026.
It needed only 55 games to move from 7 million to 8 million attendees, improving on the 60-game mark from 2025. Teams are averaging 18,077 fans per game, up from 16,809 at the same point last season. Two of the five games on July 19 drew sellout crowds.
The Samsung Lions hosted the Lotte Giants before 24,000 fans at Daegu Samsung Lions Park, and the SSG Landers played the Kia Tigers in front of 23,000 at Incheon SSG Landers Field. The league has recorded 241 sellouts so far this year, approaching the 2025 record of 331.
Eight of the KBO's 10 clubs posted year-on-year gains in average home attendance. The Hanwha Eagles and the Lotte Giants recorded modest declines of a few hundred fans per game on average.
