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KBO breaks preseason single-day attendance record, again

Published: 10 Mar. 2025, 10:12

Spectators watch a preseason 2025 KBO game between the LG Twins and KT Wiz held at Suwon KT Wiz Park in Suwon, Gyeonggi on March 9. [YONHAP]

The Korean baseball league set a single-day attendance record for a preseason Sunday, breaking its own record set from the previous day.

The KBO announced that the five exhibition games on Sunday drew a combined 71,288 fans.

On Saturday, the first day of the preseason, 67,264 fans had been on hand, breaking the previous mark of 66,785 fans set on March 22, 2015. The new record only lasted a day.

The Hanwha Eagles hosted the Doosan Bears at their alternate home park, Cheongju Baseball Stadium, in front of a sellout 9,000 fans on Saturday. The Bears prevailed 4-2.

The Samsung Lions and the SSG Landers played before a packed house of 23,063 fans at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu. The stadium has a capacity of 24,000 but the Lions only made 23,063 seats available due to maintenance work. The Lions delivered a 7-0 win.

At 22,990-seat Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan, the Lotte Giants closed off outfield seats for the preseason, leaving 17,890 available for fans. And they filled those seats Sunday for a game against the Kia Tigers. The two teams ended in a scoreless tie.

At Changwon NC Park in Changwon, South Gyeongsang, the home team NC Dinos beat the Kiwoom Heroes 7-2 with 7,278 fans in attendance.

The KT Wiz defeated the LG Twins 9-4 before 14,057 fans at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, Gyeonggi.

Weekday preseason games are free. Teams charge only small amounts for weekend games.

The preseason will wrap up on March 18 and the regular season will begin on March 22.

Last year, the KBO set its regular-season attendance record by drawing just over 10.88 million fans, surpassing the previous record by some 2.4 million.

Yonhap