Home > Culture > Life & Style

Welcome to the KBO: Korea’s vibiest, tastiest night out for sports fans

Published: 18 Apr. 2025, 07:00 Updated: 18 Apr. 2025, 11:16

Fans cheer during a KBO game between the Lotte Giants and the LG Twins at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Songpa District, southern Seoul, on March 23. [NEWS1]

Grill samgyeopsal (pork belly) right at your seat. Mix mulhoe — a chilled raw fish dish with vegetables — in a plastic bowl and share it with a friend. Then lock arms with a stranger, dance to the beat and chant together for the next three hours in perfect unison.

This isn’t a music festival. It’s just a typical night at a KBO game.

“I came to Korea just to watch a KBO game,” said Nick Czerwinski, an American fan who attended the Kiwoom Heroes game at Gocheok Sky Dome on April 10, fully dressed in the team’s uniform and cap.

But Czerwinski didn’t travel more than 10 hours just to watch a baseball game in person.

In Korea, attending a KBO game isn’t just about the sport — it’s about immersing oneself in an electric atmosphere of singing, chanting, stomping and, of course, eating.

Tourists from Taiwan cheer at Gocheok Dome Stadium in western Seoul on April 10. [Korea Tourism Organization]

This unique experience is catching on among foreign visitors so much so that they are now being promoted as part of tourism packages abroad and have already made their way onto many tourists’ to-do lists. Dedicated hosts have emerged on travel platforms like Tripadvisor to offer specialized programs for the KBO.

What exactly makes the Korean professional baseball experience so special? To find out, the Korea JoongAng Daily visited a stadium to see firsthand whether this could be Korea’s next big tourism hit.

Cheering culture

At 5:30 p.m. on April 10, an hour before the LG Twins faced the Kiwoom Heroes at Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul, families, couples and groups of friends — many donning their favorite teams’ jerseys and mascot-themed headbands — began pouring in.

Stepping into the entrance of the stadium, fans were greeted with rows of enticing food stands. Some already had long lines of fans waiting to grab their go-to ballpark snacks. From chicken and pizza to tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), the options were endless, but the longest line was for the stadium’s most popular item: fried shrimp.

Fried Shrimp sold at Gocheok Dome Stadium in western Seoul [WOO JI-WON]

Even hours before the first pitch, the stadium pulsed with thumping music, warming up fans for what would become three hours of nonstop, passionate cheering.

As the clock approached near 6:30 p.m., LG Twins infielder Shin Min-jae stepped up as the leadoff batter. Fans rose in unison and chanted along to the song with the lyrics, "Hit it, hit it, hit, Shin Min-jae." Led by cheerleaders and a cheer captain, the crowd moved in perfect sync, as if they had all rehearsed together. A pounding drumbeat layered on top only heightened the electric atmosphere.

Each time a player stepped up to bat, their own signature cheer song — complete with personalized lyrics — echoed through the stadium. Almost everyone in the crowd, aside from those busy enjoying their food, chanted and danced along to each tune. Occasionally, team anthems would play and fans would sing them at full volume, shaking the stadium with their voices.

To ensure no one feels left out, there's even an app that allows users to listen to cheer songs and read the lyrics for every player across all 10 KBO teams.

Baseball fans cheer alongside cheerleaders at Gocheok Dome Stadium in western Seoul on April 10. [WOO JI-WON]

Adding to the high-energy atmosphere was the fan gear. Many fans waved and slapped all manner of cheering apparatus together. Each team had its own custom items, and many attendees held plastic batons shaped like baseball bats, using them to beat along to the chants and show their support. Most fans held onto them until the very end of the game.

Good food brings extra fun

Food is another major draw at a KBO game.

From spicy-fried shrimp sold at stadium stalls to samgyeopsal grilled fresh at the barbecue zone, and takeout from popular restaurants nearby — the options are endless.

“I went to my first game because of a friend, but it was so much more fun than I expected — cheering and eating great food together,” said Tim Song, an office worker who attended his first KBO game between KT Wiz and SSG Landers on April 6. “I’ll definitely go again.”

Having experienced Major League Baseball, Song added, “KBO games have better food and far more exciting cheering.”

Photo, left, shows what baseball fan Seong Soo-bin ate at a baseball stadium. Captured photo, right, shows grilling samgyeobsal at a baseball stadium. [SEONG SOO-BIN, SCREEN CAPTRURE]

The nature of baseball games which last long with frequent breaks make the sports genre perfect setting for culinary indulgence — and in the KBO, fans take full advantage.

“Football is short and demands your full attention,” said Kim Ji-won, an office worker who became an LG Twins fan in 2023. “But baseball gives you time to eat, dance, sing and cheer while the game is happening. Football has cheering too, but it feels completely different.”

Newcomers also find it easy to get involved.

“In baseball, cheering is straightforward. Offense and defense switch, and you know exactly when to join in and cheer,” Song said.

“In football, a player might not even get called in during the 45-minute halves, and in basketball, there are so many points that it’s hard to keep up the energy.”

The rise of new fans

KBO's wildly popular cheering culture dates back to the leagues' early days in the late 1980s with its form and intensity shifting over the years.

But what's been remained the same is sharing of the positive energy together.

Baseball fan Seong Soo-bin, wearing a KT Wiz uniform with player Bae Jeong-dae’s name on it, poses for a photo. [SEONG SOO-BIN]

Assistant Professor Jeong Yun-duk of Kookmin University explained that such cheering culture stems from “Korea’s cultural environment, where audiences are naturally accustomed to expressing shared emotions together.”

He added, “With media amplifying the energy through real-time broadcasts, fans are no longer just spectators — they become co-creators of the experience.”

KBO had its ups and downs with one of its major crisis dating back to the pandemic era when gathering at big events like baseball was banned. Its latest revival is often credited to the MZ Generation — Millennials and Gen Z.

“This generation group craves unique, offline experiences,” said Kim Kyung-min, an adjunct professor in Dankook University’s Sport Management Department and former B2B operations manager at the KBO team Lotte Giants.

“Before Covid, they were into trendy things. But after the lockdowns, they began seeking out distinctive, in-person activities — and baseball fit the bill.”

Social media helped too, Kim said. “They see photos of fans in uniforms, looking like the main character of their own story on social media, and they get curious. Then they visit the stadium and realize how fun it actually is. No KBO club could’ve predicted this level of post-pandemic popularity.”

Turning cheers into check-ins

But it’s not only the MZ generation driving the boom. More and more foreigners are being drawn to Korean baseball’s distinctive cheering culture and joining in.

Aforementioned Czerwinski, an American national, came to Korea this year planning to watch a KBO game.

“I first came to Korea during Covid, watched baseball and fell in love with the KBO,” Czerwinski said on April 10 at Gocheok Sky Dome, where the Kiwoom Heroes were facing the LG Twins. “It’s more fun than MLB — same game, just different.”

Tourists from Taiwan cheer at Gocheok Dome Stadium in western Seoul on April 10. [Korea Tourism Organization]

Recognizing the growing global interest in Korea professional baseball’s cheering culture and aiming to commercialize it as a major tourism offering, the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) recently launched a travel package targeting Taiwanese tourists with its Taipei branch.

On April 10, 104 Taiwanese high school students attended a game at Gocheok Sky Dome as part of their tour package. Just like the Korean fans, they lined up for fried shrimp and chicken, cheered along and soaked in the stadium atmosphere.

“The atmosphere was amazing. Everyone was so focused that it really drew me in,” said Hsieh Chun-hung, a Taiwanese student who took part in the event. “The cheerleaders were so exciting.” He said he’d love to return “because of the excitement and the atmosphere.”

The organization plans to host eight more baseball-related events through August.

Kookmin University's Prof. Jeong sees the KTO initiative as a “meaningful step forward” in commercializing KBO games.

However, he warns that such programs must move beyond one-off events, emphasizing that “making cheering content into a tourism product isn’t just about bundling game tickets with accommodations but about designing the baseball stadium experience as a cultural asset of the city itself.”

Booking KBO games

KBO season differ slightly every year but it usually takes place between March and October.

The easiest and fastest way to get KBO game tickets is through online ticketing platforms like Interpark and Ticketlink.

As with all sports, tickets for any game are sold through the ticketing partner of the home team. The Kiwoom Heroes and Doosan Bears sell tickets through Interpark. To buy tickets, visit interpark.com and log in. Search for baseball or sports. From there, browse the game schedule, select your preferred match and choose from various seating options such as regular or outfield.

After selecting your seats, proceed to checkout where you’ll enter your personal and payment details. Once the transaction is complete, you’ll receive a confirmation email with your ticket information.

Ticketlink is the home of the Kia Tigers, Samsung Lions, LG Twins, KT Wiz, SSG Landers and Hanwha Eagles. The ticketing process is similar and can be accessed through its website (ticketlink.co.kr) and mobile app.

The Lotte Giants and NC Dinos sell tickets only through their own websites and mobile apps.

Ticket prices may vary depending on the seating zone and whether it’s a weekday or weekend game, ranging from as low as 7,000 won to as high as 80,000 won. Weekend tickets often sell out within a matter of minutes, so knowing when ticketing opens is key to securing the best spots.

A small number of tickets are generally held back for sale on the ground on game days, but you have to turn up very early to be in with a chance of grabbing one.

The stadiums located in Seoul are Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul and Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul. KT Wiz Park in Suwon, Gyeonggi and Incheon SSG Landers Field in Incheon are both within an hour of the capital. KBO games are played everyday except Monday.

BY WOO JI-WON [[email protected]]