Home > Sports > Baseball

Defending champion Kia Tigers named most popular team in poll

Published: 02 Apr. 2025, 17:17

Kia Tigers fans cheer for the team during a game against the NC Dinos at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on March 23. [YONHAP]

The defending champions Kia Tigers are the most popular baseball team in Korea, a national poll showed Wednesday.

Gallup Korea released results of its annual baseball survey on Wednesday, with 1,000 Koreans aged 18 or older answering questions from March 25 to 27, just days after the start of the new KBO season.

The Tigers, who won their 12th Korean Series title last year, were chosen as the most beloved team with 13 percent of the respondents supporting them. The Korean Series runners-up in 2024, Samsung Lions, were tied with the Hanwha Eagles and the Lotte Giants for second place in the poll with 9 percent.

The Tigers saw their support level rise 4 percentage points from a year ago. They were also picked as the team most likely to win the Korean Series title in 2025, with 18 percent support, followed by the LG Twins with 7 percent.

Nearly half of the respondents, 47 percent, said they don't have any rooting interest in the KBO.

The KBO enjoyed unprecedented popularity in 2024, setting single-season records with just over 10.88 million fans and 221 sellouts. In the Gallup poll, 35 percent said they had at least some interest in the KBO, down 4 percentage points from a year ago.

In the rankings of favorite players, either based in the KBO or in Major League Baseball, Lee Jung-hoo of the San Francisco Giants came out on top with 10 percent.

Lee, the 2022 KBO MVP with the Kiwoom Heroes, has been with the Giants since last year.

Eagles pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin, who returned to the KBO last year after over a decade in MLB, ranked second with 9 percent. Tigers third baseman Kim Do-yeong, the 2024 KBO MVP, finished third with 8 percent.

The survey had a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points and a 95 percent confidence level.

Yonhap