The KBO League's popularity continues to surge even as heat waves and monsoon rains sweep the country. [Yonhap]
The KBO League's popularity continues to surge even as heat waves and monsoon rains sweep the country. [Yonhap]

The KBO League's popularity is surging even as heat waves and monsoon rains batter the country.

An analysis of average home attendance for all 10 KBO League clubs as of Saturday shows league-wide average seat occupancy reached 86.7%.

That is up 4.5 percentage points from last year's average of 82.2%.

Average attendance also climbed, rising from 17,101 last year to 17,996 this year, reflecting broad growth across the league.

While the explosive momentum seen early in the season has eased somewhat, projected total attendance stands at about 12.96 million, making a third consecutive season above 10 million fans highly likely.

Given that monsoon-season weather typically dampens attendance, reaching 13 million for the year remains a realistic target.

Leading the occupancy rankings are the Hanwha Eagles, Samsung Lions and LG Twins.

Hanwha drew an average of 16,696 fans per home game at Daejeon's Hanwha Life Ballpark, which holds roughly 17,000 seats, for an occupancy rate of 98.2%.

That marks a second consecutive season in which ticket demand has outstripped supply, following 99.3% occupancy in the ballpark's inaugural year last year.

Samsung (97.1%) and LG (96.7%) both exceeded 95% occupancy despite playing in large stadiums with more than 23,000 seats, together driving the league's overall attendance boom.

The most striking trend in this year's occupancy figures is the sharp drop in empty seats at venues that had relatively slack attendance last year.

The Kia Tigers, who languished at 74.2% occupancy amid a poor run of form last year, drew an average of 17,912 fans this year — a 17.8% increase — pushing occupancy at Gwangju's Kia Champions Field to 87.4%.

The NC Dinos, the only club to post occupancy in the 50s last year at 58.6%, also grew their crowds by more than 18%, lifting occupancy at Changwon NC Park to 69.2%.

The Doosan Bears improved from 82.5% to 89.0%, crossing the 20,000-fan threshold with an average of 21,138 and closing in on 90% occupancy. The Lotte Giants (89.0% to 85.6%) and SSG Landers (76.3% to 81.1%) each filled their large stadiums to more than 80%.

The Kiwoom Heroes (77.0% to 82.4%) and KT Wiz (71.1% to 75.2%) also continued their steady upward trajectory.


greg@heraldcorp.com