Jin Sun-mi calls for oversight to prevent excessive betting; Korea faces Japan in Asian Games super round
Sales of baseball sports lottery tickets last year reached an all-time high, new data shows.
An analysis of Korea Sports Promotion Foundation data by the office of Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Jin Sun-mi, a member of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, found that baseball sports lottery sales totaled a record 1.54 trillion won ($1.13 billion) last year.
Baseball sports lottery sales have risen steadily in recent years, climbing from 1.21 trillion won in 2022 to 1.32 trillion won in 2023 and 1.39 trillion won in 2024, before reaching 1.54 trillion won last year.
Sales tied specifically to the Korea Baseball Organization league showed an even steeper upward trend.
Combined regular-season and postseason KBO sports lottery sales surged from 480.6 billion won in 2022 to 510.8 billion won in 2023, 552.4 billion won in 2024 and 656 billion won last year — a 36.5 percent jump, or 175.4 billion won, over three years.
"As professional baseball's popularity grows, both the share and the volume of baseball-related sports lottery sales are rising sharply," Jin said. "With the postseason approaching, active oversight by the relevant authorities is needed to ensure that the culture of enjoying sports does not give way to excessive betting."
Meanwhile, South Korea's Asian Games baseball team — built around KBO players — is set to face Japan in its opening super-round game at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Toyohashi Municipal Baseball Stadium in Aichi Prefecture.
A win over Japan, whose squad is composed of amateur club players, would effectively secure South Korea's place in the final.
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