The ratio of male and female spectators in the '女 42.9 → 55.5%' reversed, and the ballpark changed from a 'war site' to a 'playground' [12 million professional baseball GO!①]

*This content was translated by AI.

The KBO League surpassed 10 million spectators for the first time in Korean professional sports history in 2024, followed by an era of 12 million spectators in 2025. What is the driving force behind the unprecedented popularity. Star News also pointed out whether the spectator jackpot can be a catalyst for the development of the professional baseball industry, and what efforts KBO (Korea Baseball Commission) and each club are making to not stop at a flash box office. /Editor's note

In the past, baseball stadium intuition, which was regarded as the exclusive property of 'old men', has now been changed to everyone's leisure life. Statistics show that the atmosphere has changed from the past.

The KBO League surpassed 10 million spectators for the first time in 2024. Then, in 2025, it exceeded this number and wrote a new history with 12,312,519. Seven of the 10 clubs have exceeded 1 million home spectators, and all teams have secured at least 700,000 spectators. Autumn baseball was also sold out day after day.

Only a few years ago, it was a difficult atmosphere to imagine. After becoming a 10-team system in 2015, the KBO League, which recorded 8.4 million spectators in 2017, fell to 8073,742 in 2018 and 7,286,008 in 2019.

After two years (2020-2021) when a limited number of people came in due to COVID-19, 100% spectators were allowed again from 2022, but only exceeded 6 million in this year (6.076,074). However, since then, the cumulative audience has increased by 2 million every year, drawing a remarkable upward curve.

This atmosphere can be attributed to the increase in women's baseball viewing. According to the annual "Professional Sports Spectator Survey" conducted by the Korea Professional Sports Association, the gender ratio of visitors to home games was 57.1% for men and 42.9% for women in 2016. However, the 2024 survey reversed to 55.5% for women and 44.5% for men. This is the second highest percentage of women after the KBL among the five professional sports leagues (KBO, K League 1, KBL, WKBL, and V League).

They are showing solid purchasing power. As of 2024, KBO League fans spent 49,854 won per person watching the stadium and 156,889 won per season on average purchases of merchandise (MD). This is higher than the average of the five major professional sports leagues (43,209 won per game and 94,338 won per MD season).

An official from a KBO League club told Star News, "When you go to the goods shop during the season, women are definitely leading the purchase. Clubs must also pay attention to developing products for them. I know it's been like that for years already," he said.

As a result, the spectator culture naturally changed like a 'playground'. A fan who watched baseball for about 25 years said, "Up until the 2000s, there were a lot of violent actions in the baseball field, and it was like a battlefield," adding, "Now I think I'm really coming to enjoy it rather than that atmosphere."

This is also revealed by the number of spectators after September, when each team's ranking is determined to some extent. It was 12,236 per game in 2023, but it increased to 17,331 in 2024 and 16,412 in 2025. At the end of the season, fierce ranking battles continue in the upper middle, but it is not easy for teams in the lower ranks to go up. However, even during this period, fans are visiting the stadium and cheering enthusiastically.

You don't just come to watch baseball games. According to a 2025 survey by Yanolja Research, a research institute in the travel and tourism industry, the majority of fans who come to watch baseball games visited at least one tourist destination. Only 22.4% of respondents said they did not tour. If you go to Daejeon, you go to a bakery, and if you go to Busan, you can see the sea. Baseball intuition is becoming a trip and a tour.

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.