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KBO sees record attendance as four games draw sellout crowds on Saturday

Published: 24 Aug. 2025, 14:33 Updated: 24 Aug. 2025, 15:13

A view of Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon on Aug. 23, as Hanwha surpasses 1 million in home attendance for the first time in club history. The KBO League surpasses 10 million spectators for the second consecutive year. [HANWHA EAGLES]

The KBO announced that four of the five games held on Saturday drew sellout crowds.

The Samsung Lions versus Kiwoom Heroes game in Daegu drew 24,000 people, the NC Dinos versus Lotte Giants game in Changwon 17,983, the Kia Tigers versus LG Twins game in Gwangju 20,500 and the Hanwha Eagles versus SSG Landers game in Daejeon 17,000.

The Doosan Bears-KT Wiz matchup at Jamsil Baseball Stadium also attracted near-capacity attendance with 21,834 fans, bringing the day's total attendance to 101,317.

As of Friday, the league had drawn 9,987,273 spectators. With Friday's figures, the KBO's cumulative attendance for the 2025 season surpassed 10 million, reaching 10,088,590. This marks the second consecutive year the league has surpassed the 10-million mark, following a record-setting 10,887,705 fans last season.

Notably, this season's milestone was reached in just 587 games, the fastest in league history, surpassing last year's record of 671 games.

Hanwha starter Hwang Jun-seo throws six scoreless innings against SSG in Daejeon on Aug. 23. [HANWHA EAGLES]

Since its inception in 1982, the KBO has steadily gained popularity, crossing the 6-million attendance threshold in 2011, 7 million in 2012 and 8 million in 2016. After falling short of 9 million for eight consecutive years, the league surged past 10 million in 2024. The current pace suggests that the KBO could even approach an unprecedented 12 million spectators by season’s end.

Saturday's milestone coincided with "Baseball Day," which commemorates Korea’s undefeated gold medal run at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. On the same day, Hanwha, managed by Kim Kyung-moon — the national team skipper during the Beijing Games — snapped a six-game losing streak with a 5-0 win over SSG in Daejeon.

Hanwha starter Hwang Jun-seo earned the win after pitching six scoreless innings, allowing three hits, no walks and striking out six. Team captain Chae Eun-seong contributed a multi-hit game, including a two-RBI double that sealed the win. In the eighth inning, veteran outfielder Son Ah-seop made history by recording his 2,600th career hit with a single to right-center off SSG pitcher Mitch White — the first player in KBO history to reach the milestone.

The scoreboard at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark in Daejeon, displays a message informing the fans of a sellout for a Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game between the home team Hanwha Eagles and the Lotte Giants on Aug. 12. [HANWHA EAGLES]

“Everyone must have been emotionally drained by the losing streak, but Hwang delivered a flawless six innings as the starting pitcher to help us break out of it,” manager Kim said after the game.

League leader LG extended its winning streak to five games with a 6-2 victory over Kia, maintaining a 5.5-game lead over second-place Hanwha. Kia, on the other hand, slipped to eighth place after losing its fourth straight. NC defeated Lotte 4-1 at home to move up to fourth, while Lotte fell into a tie for fifth after suffering its 12th consecutive loss.

KT beat Doosan 6-2 behind six strong innings from new foreign pitcher Patrick Murphy, who allowed two runs, one earned. to earn his second win of the season. In Daegu, last-place Kiwoom lost 12-8 to Samsung, which climbed to seventh place.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY BAE YOUNG-EUN [[email protected]]