5 Million Fans in Just 275 Games... Pro Baseball Sets Another 'Fewest Games' Box Office Record

5 Million Reached Just 13 Days After 4 Million
Achieved 19 Games Faster Than Last Year... Average Attendance at 18,334
165 Games Sold Out, Accounting for 60% of the Season

The 2026 professional baseball season in Korea has surpassed 5 million spectators in the fewest games in history. The pace of popularity has accelerated, breaking last year's record by reaching this milestone 19 games earlier than the previous season.

The professional baseball game between the SSG Landers and the KIA Tigers, held at Gwangju Kia Champions Field, is underway with all seats sold out. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

On June 3, the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced that a total of 105,441 fans attended games at five stadiums across the country, bringing the cumulative attendance for this season to 5,041,891. This year, professional baseball surpassed the 5 million mark in just 275 games.

The previous record for the fewest games needed to reach 5 million spectators was set last year on June 3, at 294 games. This year, the record was shortened by 19 games. Just 13 days after surpassing 4 million spectators, the 5 million mark was also crossed. The 4 million milestone was reached on May 21, after just 222 games, breaking the previous record by 8 games.

On this day, which was a public holiday for local elections nationwide, four out of the five stadiums were sold out. Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul hosted 23,750 fans, Suwon KT Wiz Park had 18,700, Daegu Samsung Lions Park welcomed 24,000, and Gwangju KIA Champions Field saw 20,500 attendees. SSG Landers Field in Incheon also recorded an attendance of 18,491.

This season, 165 games—accounting for 60% of all games—have been sold out. The average attendance per game stands at 18,334.

By team, LG and Hanwha both recorded 26 sellouts, tying for first place. Samsung followed with 23, Doosan with 20, Kiwoom with 16, and KIA with 15 sellouts.

In terms of average attendance, LG led with 23,692, followed by Samsung with 22,998, and Doosan with 22,372.

The KBO League has been setting new attendance records in million-unit increments since the beginning of the season. This year, the 1 million mark was surpassed after just 55 games, five games faster than last year, while the 3 million milestone was reached in 166 games.

This year, professional baseball is on track to surpass 10 million spectators for the third consecutive year and to set a new all-time attendance record. Last year, the KBO League attracted 12,312,519 fans, surpassing the 12 million mark for the first time in professional baseball history.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.