The KBO League, which is heading into the era of 10 million spectators, is riding a warm wind.
The cumulative total number of spectators stood at 4.195,040 as of Tuesday. The number exceeded 1 million on April 9, 18 days after the opening of the event. It reached 2 million on April 27, 18 days later, and reached the 3 million mark on May 16, 19 days later. The number of spectators exceeded 4 million in 285 games on June 1, 16 days later.유흥알바
April-May is the most popular season for baseball. April is the most popular season for baseball fans to visit the stadium with high expectations for their cheering squads, and May is the most popular season for baseball fans to gather in on holidays that many family members visit. In the beginning, fierce competition to rank the fans was also the driving force. In June, teams in the upper and lower ranks would gain some ground, and the heat would generally cool down.
The pace of increase in spectators, which has been maintained consistently since the opening of the season, seems to be accelerating. The driving force is that the ranking fight, which has been mostly loose since mid-May, is still in a tight race.
All 10 teams have played around 30 percent of their home games for this season. Four teams have already attracted more than 500,000 spectators.
The Doosan Bears, which uses Jamsil Stadium (27,350 seats), which boasts the largest number of seats, as its home stadium, is ranking first among the 10 teams with 566,128 spectators as of Tuesday. Kia Champions Field in Gwangju (20,500 seats), the home ground of the KIA Tigers, is ranking second with 512,799 spectators, while Sajik Stadium in Busan (22,758 seats), the home ground of the Lotte Giants, also has 509,997 spectators. The Samsung Lions, which uses Daegu Lions Park (24,000 seats), has also attracted 500,203 spectators less than half of the time, inflating expectations for its first 1 million spectatorship.
Some teams are looking for 500,000 spectators soon. The LG Twins, which shares the Doosan Bears’ Jamsil Stadium, has had 489,611 spectators entering its 27 home games. SSG Landers Field in Incheon (23,000 seats) attracted 438,246 fans.
If the current trend continues, all six teams are expected to face a million spectators season this season.
Until now, the seasons in which 1 million spectator teams have been the most in a single season were 2012 and 2017 (four teams each).
In the 2012 season, Lotte attracted 1,368,995 spectators. It was followed by Doosan (1,291,703), LG (1,259,480), and SK (currently SSG, 1069,929). In 2017, LG had 1,134,846 spectators, followed by Doosan (1,094,829), Lotte (1,038,492), and KIA (1,024,830).
This season, not only Jamsil and Busan, but also Gwangju and Daegu fever, which have been steadily popular, are also unusual. These clubs can fully expect the synergy effect of “rising spectators” as they have considerable capacity to mobilize spectators not only at home but also at away games.