"Professional baseball is not very popular → It can collapse with a mistake."" KBO and Clubs' Strategy to Maintain a 'Great Success' [12 million professional baseball! Go]

*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

According to the KBO, the KBO League in 2025 mobilized a total of 12,312,519 regular-season spectators (17,101 on average per game). The average seat share is 81.8%, with entry income alone reaching about 204.6 billion won.

Although it is a professional baseball that has repeatedly been popular and stagnant, this time's box office is another analysis. A KBO League A team marketing official told Star News on the phone, "Inside the club, we believe that the current popularity of baseball is not a temporary phenomenon, but is structurally on a growth track. We are also planning a strategy with the idea that the 2026 business plan will be mobilized for at least 2025," he said.

There are two main reasons why they think it is not popular. The first is a change in the atmosphere of consuming baseball. Recently, baseball fans tend to visit the stadium with their acquaintances to enjoy the cheering culture itself and consume SNS. According to the "2024 Pro Sports Spectator Survey" published by the Korea Professional Sports Association (KPSA), the number of people visiting the baseball stadium even if they are not necessarily baseball fans, such as "To have fun with family/friends (2nd place)" and "To enjoy the elements that can only be experienced in the stadium (joint fourth place)."

Second, there is a significant increase in female baseball fans. In 2024, the proportion of female baseball visitors in professional baseball stood at 55.5%, ahead of male visitors (44.5%). A club marketing official said, "In the past, baseball was a male-centered culture, but today's baseball and sports culture is more enjoyed by women. This means that the fandom itself has changed. So we're doing a lot of events for female fans and family fans, and the rate of increase is definitely clear numerically," he explained.

Some say that the all-time box office should be used as an opportunity to increase the weight class of the professional baseball industry itself. It is evaluated that the potential is sufficient. In fact, even non-sports companies are paying attention to the success of Korean professional baseball. Yoon Hyo-won, a senior researcher at Yanolja Research who announced "a plan to revitalize local tourism using professional baseball" in September last year, told Star News, "When I thought about how to attract people to each region from the standpoint of researching tourism, baseball was overwhelming in terms of visits and consumption indicators (compared to other sports)."

"The effect of baseball on the local economy has been clearly proven in the recent credit card usage reports. If many baseball fans visit to watch away games, it will have a positive impact on the local economy, such as accommodation, dining out, and tourist destinations, he added.

KBO and clubs are also making ceaseless efforts to prevent them from becoming popular. In addition to promoting through the club's YouTube and SNS, we would like to attract fans who are not interested in baseball with unique events for each club. A club marketing official said, "There's a saying that the best marketing is grades, but that's not our role. It is our task to allow fans to come and enjoy the ballpark even if their performance is not good. Therefore, we are constantly developing signature events and actively using APP," he stressed.

It is also homework to keep fans' attention even in the offseason when there is no baseball. To this end, KBO clubs are increasingly collaborating with winter sports clubs in their region or the same group. An official said, "At the club level, events that can be held in winter have limitations in infrastructure. He also pointed out the reality that players can actively use it from the club's point of view because it is a training ban. "Instead, in the case of the spring camp fan invitation program, there is a discussion between the clubs. In addition, he emphasized, "We are also talking with other sports officials to come up with a way to make baseball fans into basketball and volleyball fans and basketball and volleyball fans into baseball fans."

The KBO focused on something a little more essential. KBO official B said, "I don't think the current popularity is temporary. However, it is popular that one mistake can collapse. As such, I always emphasize to the players to be an example on and off the field," he said. He said, "Recently, collaborative goods have become popular among young people, and secondary processing has become active through YouTube or SNS. But this is additional. Anyway, we are baseball players and I think popularity can cool down at any time if it's not based on skills. As such, it is important to make sure that you can have a good game and a fun and quality game," he said.

The off-season "K-BASEBALL SERIES," which was implemented in 2024, is also part of that. There are concerns about players' fatigue, but it is helping to gain experience in international competitions by continuing interest in baseball. A KBO official said, "K-BASEBALL SERIES has a positive response from fans. There were only 4,000 to 5,000 spectators in the 2019 Premier 12 held in Korea, but both 2004 and last year's games were sold," he said, adding, "K-BASEBALL SERIES tries to do its best. We are focusing on gaining experience for players by hosting a lot of games with overseas teams," he said.

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*This content was translated by AI.