Change in KBO League, Seasonal Ticket Fever in the Age of 10 Million Spectators, Says 'Five-Minute Sold Out' [RYU SUN KYU's beaded ball]

*This content was translated by AI.

The opening of the 2026 KBO League is just 20 days away. Korean professional baseball has surpassed 10 million spectators for the past two consecutive years, marking the so-called "Renaissance Era." The average seat share in the KBO League reached 81.8% last year, while Hanwha, Samsung, LG, and Lotte recorded a high share of more than 90%. Of these, Hanwha's seat share was a whopping 99.3%. In a word, it's phenomenal.

This popularity is likely to continue this season. This is because membership and season tickets sold by each club were sold out early one after another. Last year's winning team, the LG Twins, sold "full season tickets" at 2 p.m. on February 10, and all the prepared supplies were sold out in just 36 minutes. The runner-up Hanwha Eagles were faster than this. On February 25, "FULL Membership" was sold at 2 p.m. to watch the entire home game, but it closed in just five minutes.

It's not cheap either. Hanwha raised the price of its "FULL membership" relatively significantly this year. The back seat of the catcher was raised from 3.578 million won last year to 4.61 million won (28.8%). The infield designated seat A rose from 1,059,000 won to 1,444,000 won (36.4 percent). The cheering squad also increased by about 35 percent. Even though the price went up like this, it sold out quickly. This means that there is a lot of demand for "FULL membership."

Meanwhile, the Samsung Lions decided not to recruit new season tickets this year. This is because more than half of the total seats have been filled only by renewing the contract with the existing season ticket holders. Daegu Samsung Lions Park, Samsung's home stadium, has about 24,000 seats. In other words, more than 12,000 seats have already been secured as season tickets.

This phenomenon does not just mean that baseball's popularity has increased. It is a sign that the business structure of the KBO League is changing little by little. Until now, the popularity of season tickets to watch the entire home game in the KBO League has not been very high. A season's home games are usually 71 games. It is practically not easy to watch every game.

In general, season tickets are economically beneficial when you watch about 70% of home games. It was also not easy to meet this standard. On top of that, the relatively easy reservation for each game was the reason why the demand for season tickets was not large. So the membership system run by the club became more popular. This is because various benefits such as advance reservation and early admission were given.

But things have changed recently. Like the U.S. Major League Baseball (MLB), season tickets have begun to gain popularity in the KBO League. This is because more and more fans watch more than 70% of home games in a season, and as more sold-out games have increased, it has become increasingly difficult to book for each game. Hanwha's case last year is a case in point. Of the 73 home games, 62 were sold out. As the number of sold-out games increased, it became difficult to obtain tickets, and the value of season tickets naturally increased. As a result, despite raising prices, this year's "FULL membership" sold out in just five minutes.

If you look at the current season ticket craze, there are memories that naturally come to mind. It's the time of the "100,000 won season ticket."

In 2007, the SK Wyverns (current SSG Landers) declared the "first year of sports" and sold infield regular seat season tickets for 100,000 won. It was a 71 percent discount from the normal price. The weekend season tickets were also discounted by 53 percent to 70,000 won. The sale was limited to 1,000 people on a first-come, first-served basis. At that time, Munhak Baseball Stadium had 30,500 seats. 1,000 season tickets were only about 3% of the total seats. But even that didn't sell easily. Club employees were given incentives based on sales performance. Compared to the current season ticket sales procession, it is literally a "different feeling." The average attendance of the KBO League in 2007 was 8144. The average attendance last year was 15,122. The average attendance in 2007 was only 53.9% of last year's.

For a long time, the season ticket was at the center of MLB clubs' ticket business. So, when you look at the ballpark, it is sometimes announced as a sold-out even though the seats look empty. This is because season tickets have already been sold. In MLB, companies often purchase season tickets and use them for sales. There has been such corporate marketing in the KBO League before, but the recent season ticket craze seems to be active by individual fans. MLB clubs are usually known to have a 20-30% discount on season tickets for all games. In the past, KBO clubs' discount rates were higher than this, but recently, they are decreasing to a similar level to MLB.

From the club's point of view, it is burdensome to raise the price of tickets for each game significantly. Instead, it seems that the price policy is basically adjusted by reducing the discount range of season tickets that are subject to discount rates. Hanwha's 'FULL Membership' price increase can also be understood in this context. It is relatively recent that KBO clubs' season tickets have become a big issue among fans. It can be seen as another change in professional baseball in the era of 10 million spectators. It is also another aspect of the growth of professional baseball business.

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*This content was translated by AI.