In 2023, the KBO League surpassed 3 million spectators in 271 games. The period of increasing from 2 million to 3 million was remarkably short. As the Corona 19 era ended, the number of fans at the baseball field naturally increased.

The KBO announced on the 9th that 48,291 people entered the five professional baseball stadiums. By the 8th, 2,979,865 people entered, 20,135 people were short of 3 million spectators. Celebrating a fine Friday, many baseball fans came to the baseball field, easily passing 3 million spectators. Until the 9th, 271 games were played in the KBO League.

▶ 9th KBO League total spectators 48,291
Jamsil KIA-Doosan 16,250
Daegu Lotte-Samsung 15,893
Changwon SSG-NC 5110
Suwon Kiwoom-kt 5033
Daejeon LG-Hanwha 6,005

Until reaching 3 million spectators 271 games is the 6th lowest record of all time. In addition, it is a sign that the trend of KBO league spectators has recovered the trend before Corona 19. It falls short of the popularity of the ‘heyday’, which exceeded 8 million spectators, but 7 million spectators are visible.

In 2016, when it set the second-highest record with 8,339,577, it took only 245 games to reach 3 million spectators. In 2017, which set the record for the highest number of spectators with 8,400,688, it achieved 3 million spectators in 249 games. In 2019, the last season before Corona 19, it took 270 games similar to this year.

▶Required up to 3 million spectators Matches, final spectators
2016 245 games, 8,339,577 people
2017 249 games, 8,400,688 people
2015 268 games, 7,360,530 people

2 years before COVID-
19 2018 255 games, 8,073,742
270 games in 2019, 7,286,008 people

The rise from 2 million spectators to 3 million spectators is steep . In 2017, when the largest number of spectators ever visited, there were 83 games, but this year, the number of spectators increased by 1 million after 80 games. According to the KBO, 80 games this year is the third lowest ever.

2016 was 77 games, 2015 was 79 games, and 2018 is 80 games like this year. 2017 was 83 games, 2019 was 87 games.안전놀이터

As the number of spectators, which peaked in 2017, declined in 2018 and 2019, the theory of a baseball crisis was raised. In particular, concerns increased as the number of spectators, which exceeded 8 million in 2018, fell to less than 7.3 million in 2019.

The main view was that the slump in international competitions, which began with the first round dropout of the WBC in 2013, was prolonged, and that some baseball players’ deviant behaviors such as drunk driving and school violence created a negative perception of the KBO League, leading to a decrease in the number of spectators. While accepting this criticism painfully, it is necessary to closely analyze the cause of the return of the number of spectators.