*This content was translated by AI.
The 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League recorded a total of 89,402 spectators across eight games held on the 12th at four stadiums—Jamsil, Daegu, Suwon, and Gocheok—bringing the cumulative attendance to 11.049504 million, achieving 11 million spectators for the second consecutive year.
This pace is faster than the 2025 season when the KBO League first reached 11 million spectators in history.
The league surpassed 11 million spectators in just 626 games this year, cutting 17 games short of last year's record of 643 games.
Baseball enthusiasm, ignited by the national team's dramatic qualification for the quarterfinals—the first in 17 years—at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) held before the season, has directly translated into strong KBO League attendance.
The league reached 10 thousand won spectators in just 55 games, the fewest in history, and has consistently broken that record for every milestone since, including reaching 11 million spectators without missing a single record-setting game count.
During this period, the league also achieved two significant milestones: becoming the second team in history to reach 7 million spectators in the first half of a season, and surpassing 10 million spectators for three consecutive years.
Seven of the KBO League's 10 teams (LG, Hanwha, SSG, Samsung, Lotte, KIA, Doosan) have surpassed 10 thousand won spectators. Samsung, with 1.453477 million home spectators, and LG, with 1.432238 million, are both challenging to break the 1.5 million home spectator record.
The single-season home attendance record is 1.640174 million, set by Samsung in 2025.
This season's league average attendance stands at 17,651 per game, exceeding the previous single-season record of 17,101 set in 2025.
By team, Samsung leads with an average of 23,443 spectators, followed by LG at 22,034 and Doosan at 21,291. The remaining teams rank in order as Lotte, KIA, SSG, Hanwha, KT, Kiwoom, and NC.
Sold-out lines continue to grow. Of the 626th games played so far, 298 (approximately 48%) have been sold out. The KBO League now looks toward breaking last year's single-season record of 331 sold-out games. Overall seat occupancy for the league stands at 85.2%.
By team, Samsung leads with 50 sold-out home games. Hanwha follows with 47, and LG with 39, ranking second and third respectively. KIA holds the top spot for away games with 51 sold-out road contests. Lotte ranks second with 45, and Samsung third with 40.
The KBO League opened a new era of 10 million spectators in the 2024 season for the first time in history and is now continuing that streak for three consecutive years. With success in achieving 11 million spectators for two straight years this season, expectations are growing to surpass last year's all-time record attendance of 12.312519 million.
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*This content was translated by AI.
