Take me out to the K League: Spectator count reaches new high

Football

Published: 09 Dec. 2023, 10:10

Take me out to the K League: Spectator count reaches new high

FC Seoul fans cheer for their team during a K League match against the Suwon Samsung Bluewings at Seoul World Cup Stadium in western Seoul on Nov. 25. [YONHAP]

More eyes than ever are on the K League as watching football has become an increasingly popular past-time.

Spectators for this year's K League season more than doubled compared to last year's count. There were 2,434,813 turnstile ticks from opening weekend in February until the regular season's end on Dec. 3, according to the K League, up from 1,099,061 last year.

It's the highest spectator count since the K League switched to its current 12-team system in 2014 and marks a 500,000 increase from that first year.

The 2022 season was the first year the K League lifted its capacity limit since the pandemic. In 2019, the K League drew 1,827,061 spectators

FC Seoul recorded the most amount of spectators at 430,029 in the 2023 season, with league winners Ulsan Hyundai coming in second at 345,990.

Success stories like Ulsan’s extraordinary run as the league leaders and Gwangju FC’s strong return to the K League 1 were worth paying attention to, but they hardly give the whole picture.

Other factors might also explain the league’s growing popularity.

Qatar World Cup stars

The 2022 Qatar World Cup produced some “World Cup stars” from the K League who left a strong impression and drew viewers’ attention.

The most impressive K League player was arguably then-Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors forward Cho Gue-sung who scored two goals during the group stage match against Ghana and became the first-ever Korean to manage a double in a World Cup fixture.

Korea's Cho Gue-sung celebrates after scoring a goal during a Group H match against Ghana at the 2022 Qatar World Cup at Education City Stadium in Doha, Qatar on Nov. 29, 2022. [NEWS1]

Those two goals allowed him to gain a huge following, over 2 million on Instagram.

He also made it onto European teams’ radar after the World Cup, but he stayed at Jeonbuk until transferring to FC Midtjylland in Denmark in July, allowing Korean fans to watch him play in person through the halfway mark of the 2023 K League 1.

Jeonbuk recorded 238,759 spectators last season partly thanks to him, compared to 114,328 in 2022.

FC Seoul’s Na Sang-ho was another player that made a clear impact during the World Cup, especially in the group stage game against Uruguay.

FC Seoul's Na Sang-ho shoots during a K League match against Daejeon Hana Citizen at Seoul World Cup Stadium in western Seoul on July 1. [YONHAP]

Playing as a winger in that match, he effectively created space for his teammates with tidy passes, including a pass to forward Hwang Ui-jo that could have given Korea a lead, if Hwang had not shot it wide.

His form in that match was enough to prove that K League players were at the level to compete on the international stage, drawing non-K League fans attention.

Na also continued his career at FC Seoul and displayed a convincing performance in the K League, like he did during the World Cup. He scored 12 goals in 38 league fixtures as the league’s fourth-highest scorer, showing fans that he is a player to watch and has potential to move onto bigger fields.

Fiercer competition

Ulsan’s dominance in the 2023 K League was clear, as the league champions finished 12 points clear of runners-up the Steelers.

The competition to manage a higher finish by other 11 teams, however, was more intense than the previous seasons as the narrow point gaps tell.

The point gap between the Steelers with 64 and sixth-place Daegu FC with 53 was only 11. Third-place Gwangju finished with 59 points and fourth-place Jeoonbuk with 57 and fifth-place Incheon United at 56.

The point gap between the runners-up and the sixth-place team was its narrowest in recent years.

In the 2022 season, then-runners-up Jeonbuk finished with 73 points, and sixth-place Gangwon FC managed 49 points.

The gap was also huge in the 2021 season, when then-runners-up Ulsan finished with 74 and sixth-place Suwon Samsung Bluewings had 46.

The 2023 season’s narrow point gap indicates that apart from Ulsan, all the other top six teams were able to challenge each other, which induces a competitive race that fans can find more entertaining.

It was indeed the case with Gwangju that beat the Steelers 4-2 in June and also defeated Ulsan 1-0 in October.

Not just Gwangju, but Daejeon Hana Citizen also earned promotion to the first division this year, managing 2-1 wins against both Ulsan and Jeonbuk in April.

Daejeon Hana Citizen's Lee Jin-hyun, right, scores the opening goal during a K League match against Ulsan Hyundai at Daejeon World Cup Stadium in Daejeon on April 16. [YONHAP]

These underdog wins kept the race to a top-four finish competitive through the end of the season, leaving fans plenty of excitement to see who will make it to the AFC Champions League next season.

K League 1 winners and Korean FA Cup champions earn a spot in the AFC Champions League Elite (ACLE), while K League runners-up win a chance to play in the 2024-25 ACLE playoffs.

But because the Steelers were both the FA Cup champions and K League runners-up in the 2023 season, a third-place K League 1 side was to play in the playoffs instead.

A fourth-place team would play in the inaugural AFC Champions League 2 — a second-tier club tournament by the AFC — next season.

Attacking football

Goals are highlights of football and the main factor that excites the spectators. The 2023 season saw many K League teams play attacking football that kept the momentum of the games fast, which also allowed the teams to score numerous goals.

The 12 teams scored a total 567 goals, compared to 538 in 2022.

Along with Ulsan and FC Seoul, who tied for the most amount of goals, at 63, Daejeon was also prolific throughout the season, scoring 56.

K League top scorer Joo Min-kyu of Ulsan Hyundai, center, celebrates after scoring a goal during a K League game against Jeju United at Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium in Ulsan on June 10. [K LEAGUE]

Ulsan, in particular, showed no mercy when it came to scoring even when a win looked promising. The match against Jeju United on June 10 was one example, when Ulsan won the game 5-1.

Another dramatic game between the Steelers and Daejeon on Aug. 20 ended with a 4-3 victory for the Pohang side. Two goals came in a space of two minutes of stoppage time, also proving that there is a lot to be excited about in the K League.

With a number of K League teams showing attacking football and more teams emerging as league title challengers, the 2024 season may see more competitive action as well as an even higher spectator count.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]