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KBO on track to earn highest postseason gate revenue

Published: 27 Oct. 2025, 16:56 Updated: 27 Oct. 2025, 18:50

Fans watch Game 1 of the Korean Series between the LG Twins and Hanwha Eagles at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul on Oct. 26. [YONHAP]

The KBO is enjoying an unprecedented boom in popularity, with packed stands across weekday and weekend games, regardless of time or location.

Tickets are in such high demand that even players, coaches and club staff say they are overwhelmed by personal requests for seats from friends and acquaintances.

Following its 2025 regular season milestone of over 12 million fans, the KBO is now setting records in the postseason. With each round delivering closely contested matchups, the league is on pace to generate its highest postseason gate revenue.

The Korean Series opener between the Hanwha Eagles and LG Twins at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul on Sunday drew a full-capacity crowd of 23,750. It marked the 33rd consecutive postseason sellout and the 12th straight game in this year’s postseason to reach full attendance.

The 2025 regular season drew 12,312,519 fans across 720 games, driven partially by the debut of Hanwha Eagles' new stadium — Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark in Daejeon — and a strong early showing by the Lotte Giants. A tight playoff race through the final weeks further fueled attendance, easily surpassing last year's all-time record of 10 million.

That momentum has carried into the postseason. All 12 games held so far — two wild card games, four first rounds of playoff games, five second rounds of playoff games and the Korean Series Game 1 — have sold out.

Fans watch Game 1 of the Korean Series between the LG Twins and Hanwha Eagles at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul on Oct. 26. [YONHAP]

The KBO’s previous record for postseason ticket sales was 14.59 billion won ($10.2 million) in 2024. The league could surpass that figure if this year's Korean Series goes all the way to Game 7.

As of the end of the second round of playoffs, the total postseason gate revenue stands at 9.83 billion won, slightly below the 10.4 billion won reported at the same point last year.

But with high-revenue venues like Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul and Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark hosting the Korean Series, surpassing the 15 billion won mark is possible.

Jamsil Baseball Stadium generates about 1.2 billion won per game, while Daejeon brings in around 940 million won. If the series extends to Game 5, gate receipts alone could exceed 15 billion won.

This is welcome news for all teams involved in the postseason. The KBO distributes net revenue — ticket sales minus operating costs — from all postseason games to the clubs.

The regular season champion receives 20 percent of the pool. Of the remaining 80 percent, the Korean Series champion receives half, the runner-up 24 percent, the playoff round loser 14 percent, the first round playoff loser 9 percent and the wild card round loser 3 percent.

While labor and venue costs have risen, each postseason club still receives tens of billions of won in bonus revenue.

The Kia Tigers, who won both the regular season and Korean Series titles, took home 5.2 billion won in postseason revenue last year.

With the Twins having won the first game of the series 8-2, Game 2 of the Korean Series is due to take place at Jamsil Baseball Stadium on Monday as of press time.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KO BONG-JUN [[email protected]]