KBO breaks single-season attendance record

SEOUL, Oct. 5 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean baseball league established a new single-season attendance record Monday, surpassing the previous mark set just last year with six days left on the campaign.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said its attendance for the 2026 season reached 12,362,000 after five games played Monday. The previous record was 12,312,519 fans from 2025.

According to the KBO, teams are averaging 17,685 fans per game through 699 contests this year, up about 4 percent from the same point in 2025.

The KBO has reached every million mark this season in record-breaking style, including the 12-million mark on Thursday -- making the new single-season record a foregone conclusion.

Another record came down Monday, with the KT Wiz becoming the eighth team to top 1 million in attendance this season thanks to a sellout crowd of 18,700 at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, just south of Seoul. Last year, seven clubs drew over 1 million fans each.

Three of the five games for Monday were sold out, bringing the season total to 330 -- just shy of the record set in 2025.

The KBO said eight of the league's 10 teams have enjoyed an uptick in their attendance from last year to this year. The Hanwha Eagles and the Lotte Giants have been the two exceptions, but they have still drawn well over 1 million fans already, with the Eagles having recorded the second-most sellouts with 50.

The KBO added it has enjoyed a 4.3 percent increase in attendance for Tuesday-Thursday games from 2025, with an average of 15,953 fans taking in baseball games on weeknights.