KBO hits 5 million ticket sales in near-record time as Tigers reclaim top spot

The 2024 KBO campaign is on track to surpass the all-time high of 8.4 million spectators in 688 games in 2017. The Kia Tigers ended the weekend back atop the 10-team table.

The 2024 KBO season reached 5 million spectators in 345 games. [NEWS1]

The KBO reached the five-million spectator mark on Saturday, hitting the milestone in just 345 games — the second-fewest amount of games it's taken the league to draw five million spectators after 332 games in 2012.

With the fastest-growing spectator count since the league adopted the current 10-team system, the 2024 KBO campaign is on track to surpass the all-time high of 8.4 million spectators in 688 games in 2017.

Defending champions LG Twins have drawn the most spectators this season, at 18,151 on average per game. The Doosan Bears come in second at 17,891, followed by the Kia Tigers at 17,766 and the Lotte Giants at 16,277.

The Hanwha Eagles have sold out 24 out of 32 home games and remain the only team to have sold out Tuesdays, typically one of the lowest-selling days of the week, three times.

The Eagles’ high ticket sell-out rate comes after former Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin’s returnto the Daejeon club ahead of the 2024 campaign and the club’s impressive run in the early days of the season — taking the top spot on the table at one point in March for the first time in a decade.

The Eagles, however, have slipped down to seventh place since then. The Daejeon team beat the Bears — 6-1, 4-3, 6-9 — last week in southern Seoul, before losing — 4-11, 1-9, 4-1 — against the SSG Landers at home over the weekend.

The Hanwha Eagles' Lee Won-seok hit an RBI during a KBO game against the Doosan Bears at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul on June 13. [NEWS1]

Over at the top of the table, the Tigers lost to the Landers — 6-7, 13-7, 1-7 — in Incheon but went on to sweep the KT Wiz 11-1, 2-1, 3-1 and snatched the frontrunner spot from the Twins.

The Gwangju club were the only ones to end their week with a sweep.

The Samsung Lions swept the reigning Korean Series champions in Daegu — 4-6, 4-5, 3-6 — and beat the Giants in southern Seoul over the weekend — 5-3, 8-9, 9-8.

The LG Twins celebrate after winning a KBO game against the Lotte Giants at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul on Sunday. [YONHAP]

Elsewhere, the NC Dinos enjoyed two wins at home, beating the Wiz 8-6, 8-11, 5-3 before beating the Lions 4-7, 6-4, 5-4 at NC Dinos Park in Changwon, North Gyeongsang.

At the bottom of the table, the Kiwoom Heroes fell to the Giants in Busan — 5-2, 2-9, 10-18 — and then suffered another loss against the Bears at Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul — 4-6, 1-4, 8-2.

This week, the Heroes will face the Eagles at Cheongju Baseball Stadium — the Eagles’ second stadium — in Cheongju, North Chungcheong. Back on top, the Tigers will face the Twins in Gwangju while the Dinos take on the Bears in southern Seoul. The Lions will host the Landers in Daegu, and the Giants will play the Wiz in Suwon, Gyeonggi.

Over the weekend, the Giants will play the Heroes in western Seoul while the Wiz take on the Twins at Jamsil on the other side of the capital. The Eagles will play the Tigers in Gwangju, the Bears will head down to Daegu to meet the Lions and the Dinos will be in Incheon to face the Landers.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]