As expected, Korean baseball is going to make a new history today! A Blitz Analysis of the Reasons for the Breakthrough of a New Record

Sep 05, 2025

As expected, Korean baseball is going to make a new history today! A Blitz Analysis of the Reasons for the Breakthrough of a New Record
Baseball fans who filled the stands are cheering for KT and Doosan at Jamsil Baseball Stadium on the 23rd. The KBO League achieved a record of 10 million spectators for the second consecutive year. Jamsil= Reporter's wook@sportschosun.com/2025.08.23/



Even in the second half of the season, the popularity does not cool down. The professional baseball KBO League, which has become a national sport, is on the verge of setting a new record for the largest number of spectators ever.

The KBO League had 10,849,054 spectators visiting the ballpark in 632 games until the 4th, leaving 38,651 to 10,887,705 in the 2024 season, which was the previous record for the most spectators in a single season. The KBO League, which began with a total of 1,438,768 spectators in 1982, its first season, has grown into a professional sports league that has exceeded 10 million spectators for two consecutive years in its 44th season.

By September 4, the average attendance was 17,166, up about 16% from the same number of games last year. The overall seat occupancy rate is 83.2%. In addition, 294 games, or 46.5% of the total 632 games, were sold out. KBO conducted a survey to understand the enthusiastic interest of fans, the driving force behind the record number of spectators, and analyzed it on its own.




▲ ABS to increase fairness, expand video reading targets, and apply pitch clocks to reduce game time

The KBO League introduced the ABS system for the first time among professional leagues in the 2024 season. In a survey conducted last year, 88.7% of respondents evaluated that the introduction of ABS had a positive impact on league operations, confirming that fans put important values on fairness. In this year's survey, more than 60% of respondents said that the new game system has increased their frequency of viewing, citing improved concentration and immersion (32.9%) and 'Improvement of fairness' (28.9%). KBO is making greater efforts to improve fairness by introducing check swing video readings in the second half of this season, going further from the introduction of ABS.

As expected, Korean baseball is going to make a new history today! A Blitz Analysis of the Reasons for the Breakthrough of a New Record
A game between the LG Twins and the Lotte Giants at Jamsil Stadium on the 2nd. It was the 37th time of the season that all seats were sold out. Jamsil = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.09.02/
The faster game time also increased the satisfaction of fans. As of Sept. 4, the 2025 KBO League has an average game time of 3 hours and 2 minutes based on regular innings. The figure is 8 minutes shorter than 3 hours and 10 minutes in the 2024 season. Among the respondents who said the new game system increased the frequency of watching, the number rose to 21.1% this year, when it was officially introduced, compared to 12.2% when introducing the pitch clock pilot last year.




▲ Increasing frequency of viewing due to active cheering/food culture contents and increasing number of new stadiums

Among the survey respondents, 32.9% of existing spectators (watching even before Corona) said they watched baseball more frequently than last year. The reason why they watch more often is that the cheering culture is fun (47.7%) and the response rate is higher than that of the cheering team'(38.3%)'.

67.7% of new visitors (starting watching after Corona) said they visited the ballpark for the first time regardless of the baseball game. The reason they visited the ballpark was because they started watching it due to active cheering/food culture contents such as 'I thought the cheering culture would be fun (33.8%)' and 'I wanted to experience food culture such as chicken and beer (19.9%)'. It was a response that KBO league fans perceived visiting the baseball stadium as a space where they could enjoy leisure content.




In addition, the improved viewing environment also contributed to the increase in KBO league attendance. Most of the stadiums, including Daejeon Stadium, which opened in the 2025 season, have been opened since 2014, and new stadiums are scheduled to be built in Jamsil, Sajik, and Cheongna, which is expected to improve the viewing environment for fans to be more convenient and fan-friendly.

As expected, Korean baseball is going to make a new history today! A Blitz Analysis of the Reasons for the Breakthrough of a New Record
The Hanwha-LG match held at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 10th. Cool water is being sprayed in the stands when LG tied the game in the sixth inning. Jamsil = Reporter Jung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2025.8.10/
As baseball fans' satisfaction with viewing and the environment have improved, 90% of existing visitors and 82% of new visitors have expressed their desire to revisit in the future. Since last year, the willingness of new visitors and additional people to watch has been increasing, which is seen as a positive sign for the success of the KBO league.

In addition, a significant response was found to be the most memorable after visiting the ballpark for the first time, followed by 'Cheering Culture (35.8%)' and'Play itself (24.9%)', indicating that the proportion of new visitors visiting the ballpark with interest in baseball games as well as non-baseball elements is increasing.

▲ Cost-effectiveness cultural activities

Until September 4th, the KBO League's price (average expenditure ticket amount per person) is 16,715 won (admission income/total spectator). According to statistics from the Korea Consumer Agency in July, the average price of a bowl of samgyetang and 200 grams of samgyetang in Seoul was 17,923 won and 26,39 won, respectively. With the overall cost of leisure activities rising, the baseball stadium, where you can enjoy watching baseball, various foods, and cheering for an average of three hours, is emerging as a new venue for cost-effectiveness consumption. In particular, 20.5% of the respondents who said they watched KBO League more frequently answered that the cost of watching baseball is reasonable compared to other things to play.

As expected, Korean baseball is going to make a new history today! A Blitz Analysis of the Reasons for the Breakthrough of a New Record
The KBO League KT Wiz and Samsung Lions match held at Suwon KT Wiz Park on the 26th. Baseball fans who filled the stands are enjoying the Water Festival. Suwon = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.07.26/
▲ launching a wide range of collaborative products

KBO and 10 clubs are approaching the daily lives of fans by launching products and programs in collaboration with various companies as well as baseball-related industries.

KBO collaborated with 'Mushin', which is popular among young people, to launch collaborative products such as hats, general clothes, and accessories as well as uniforms for each team. If most of the existing product collaboration was limited to products directly related to baseball, it has created an opportunity for fans to consume baseball content in various ways anytime, anywhere in their daily lives by collaborating with lifestyle and cultural contents used by all age groups such as CGV, Caseify, and Odense.

Ten clubs are also working with popular animation characters, amusement parks, and food and beverage companies to continuously release a variety of products that can cover all ages and are receiving favorable responses from fans.

As expected, Korean baseball is going to make a new history today! A Blitz Analysis of the Reasons for the Breakthrough of a New Record
Lotte fans in the first base stands are cheering for Samsung and Lotte at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on the 22nd. Busan = Reporter's wook@sportschosun.com/2025.06.22/
▲ Establishment of 'Play Culture' through the use of Gyeonggi video and the production of its own contents, etc

KBO produces various video contents through YouTube and Instagram and shows fans every aspect of the KBO League.

KBO's official YouTube had 376,000 subscribers by August 2025, up 11.7% from the previous year. It averages about 600,000 views per day, focusing on real-time major scene content such as 'Cvoment', Futures League broadcasting, and self-produced original content. In particular, 'Kbo Live', which debuted this season, meets with fans on live broadcast every week to discuss various issues and policies of the KBO League and listen to opinions. The viewing age group of KBO's official YouTube was the highest at 23.8%, and the age group with the highest rate of increase in viewing compared to last year was 55 years old or older, up 3.3% from last year, expanding the influx of middle-aged people.

KBO's official Instagram has 59.1 million followers (+12.5% compared to the previous year) and averages about 6 million views per day through intuitive content such as short-form content, ranking tables, and game results. The age range of main users is 18 to 34 years old, and it is evenly consumed by all ages from teens to 40s and older. The gender ratio was 54% male and 46% female, which were relatively balanced. KBO is expanding its digital contacts and strengthening communication by generation by expanding new platforms such as TikTok as well as YouTube and Instagram.

As expected, Korean baseball is going to make a new history today! A Blitz Analysis of the Reasons for the Breakthrough of a New Record
A match between the Samsung Lions and the KT Wiz at Daegu Lions Park on the 14th. Lions Park, which sold out for the 30th time this season. Daegu = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.06.14/
KBO signed a contract for wired and wireless broadcasting rights last year, allowing fans to produce online video content using game scenes. Through this, many fans' online production and sharing of content and enjoying baseball videos have become a 'play culture', and the virtuous cycle of this has greatly affected the increase of KBO league fans, especially those in their 20s and 30s. In the survey, more than half of the first KBO League visitors this year said they had encountered baseball-related content through YouTube, and the contact rate through SNS for those in their 20s and under and YouTube for those in their 30s was relatively high.

▲ TV, Wired and Wireless Platform Viewers Increase

The expansion of KBO League fans was also confirmed by TV ratings and an increase in users of wired and wireless platforms. Until August, the average combined viewership of TV in the 2025 KBO League was 1.17%, up about 9% from 1.07% in the same period last year. In addition, the average total number of viewers per game was 276,019 people, an increase of about 22% compared to the same period last year. The cumulative viewers were 170,303,524, up about 23% from the previous year.

As expected, Korean baseball is going to make a new history today! A Blitz Analysis of the Reasons for the Breakthrough of a New Record
The game between the Hanwha Eagles and the Lotte Giants at Hanwha Life Ballpark in Daejeon on the 13th. Daejeon Ball Park recorded the highest sales record (48th) in a season. Daejeon = Song Jeong-heon Reporter's songs@sportschosun.com/2025.08.13/
Wired and wireless (TVING) viewing indicators also rose significantly. The number of KBO League UV (viewers who played more than one game excluding duplicate access) in the 2025 season increased by about 45% compared to the same period last year until August 31.

▲Women and Teenage Fan Reservation Rate Increase

According to statistics from ticket reservation site TicketLink, the ratio of men and women to online bookers in the 2025 KBO League until August was 42.5% for men and 57.5% for women. The figure was up about 6% from 51.4 percent in the 2023 season two years ago, confirming an increase in the proportion of female fans visiting the stadium. In particular, the proportion of women among those in their 20s and 30s, which accounts for about 60% of all reservations, increased from 60.2% in their 20s and 54.1% in their 30s to 63.6% in their 20s and 56.9% in their 30s in the 2025 season, indicating an increase in the percentage of baseball viewing among women in their 20s and 30s.

In addition, the increase in the percentage of teenage fan reservations was also something to watch. The proportion of teenage bookers, which was less than 3% in the 2023 season, increased to 4.4% in the 2024 season and 4.5% in the 2025 season. It is interpreted that interest in baseball has increased after teenage fans who spend a lot of time online, such as SNS and shorts, have encountered various online baseball contents. Young fans' interest in the KBO League has increased, confirming positive indicators for the continued inflow of KBO league fans.

Meanwhile, the KBO League is about 310,000 people ahead of achieving the accumulated 200 million regular season spectators in its 44th season after achieving the largest number of spectators ever.





This article was translated by Naver AI translator.