About 80,000 fans attended Saturday's games, pushing the cumulative total to about 11.05 million

Fans cheer during a Korea Baseball Organization game between the Samsung Lions and the Kia Tigers at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on Aug. 11, when a heat wave advisory was in effect for the region. [Yonhap]
Fans cheer during a Korea Baseball Organization game between the Samsung Lions and the Kia Tigers at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on Aug. 11, when a heat wave advisory was in effect for the region. [Yonhap]

The 2026 Korea Baseball Organization season has surpassed 11 million in cumulative attendance in fewer games than any previous season.

The KBO announced Saturday that 80,942 fans attended games at four ballparks across the country, bringing the season's cumulative attendance to 11,049,504. The milestone was reached 17 games faster than last year, when the 11 million mark took 643 games to achieve.

This season, the KBO has set consecutive records for reaching each 1 million attendance milestone in the fewest games ever, sustaining strong box-office momentum throughout the year. As a result, the league drew 7 million fans in the first half for only the second time in its history and surpassed 10 million attendees for the third consecutive season.

Of the 626 games played so far, 298 — about 48 percent — have sold out. At the current pace, the league could surpass last season's single-season sellout record of 331 games. The overall seat occupancy rate stands at 85.2 percent.

The Samsung Lions lead all teams in attendance with 1,453,477 fans, while seven other clubs — the LG Twins, Hanwha Eagles, SSG Landers, Lotte Giants, Kia Tigers and Doosan Bears — have each surpassed 1 million.


hwshin@heraldcorp.com