2026 KBO Attendance Hits Record 12.36 Million with 21 Games Left… 8 Clubs Top 1 Million

The 2026 KBO League set a new all-time attendance record on October 5, drawing a cumulative 12,362,000 fans in 699 games. KT passed 1 million home fans, bringing the number of clubs that have reached 1 million to 8.

Translated from Korean with AI assistance. Read the original. Sources and original publication dates are retained.

Three-Line Summary

Cumulative attendance for the 2026 KBO League reached 12,362,000 in 699 games, an all-time record.
With KT joining, 8 clubs, all except NC and Kiwoom, have topped 1 million home fans.
With 21 regular-season games remaining, 12,362,000 is not yet the final attendance figure.

49,481. That is how many more fans this year's cumulative KBO League attendance has than the entire 2025 season. Calculated directly from KBO figures, that is an increase of about 0.402%. Yet on the same day, the KBO announced an "increase of about 4% compared with the same number of games last year." Both numbers are correct. They simply use different baselines, and understanding the difference is what lets you see the true size of this record.

KBO Attendance of 12.36 Million Breaks Previous Record in 699 Games

According to the KBO announcement, the 2026 KBO League had drawn, through October 5, 12,362,000 fans in 699 games (as of 5 a.m. on 2026.10.06). It is the highest regular-season total ever. The previous record was 12,312,519 in the 2025 season. Last year, that figure was reached after playing all 720 games. This year, the mark was passed with 21 games still to play.

On October 5, when the record was set, 95,922 fans attended games at five ballparks nationwide, Hankook Ilbo reported. Of those, the games in Jamsil, Daegu and Suwon sold out. Newspim reported that on the same day KT passed 1 million home fans, raising the number of clubs to reach that mark to 8. This year's attendance has surpassed in 699 games what last year drew over 720 games.

KBO Attendance by Club: Samsung First, KT Barely Over 1 Million

Cumulative home attendance by club (through October 5 games, as of 5 a.m. on 2026.10.06)

Rank	Club	Cumulative home attendance (fans)	Home games	Average per game (fans)	Passed 1 million
1	Samsung	1,669,050	71	23,508	O
2	LG	1,574,738	71	22,179	O
3	Doosan	1,483,772	70	21,197	O
4	Lotte	1,282,929	67	19,148	O
5	KIA	1,217,388	69	17,643	O
6	SSG	1,213,900	69	17,593	O
7	Hanwha	1,120,950	69	16,246	O
8	KT	1,004,272	70	14,347	O
9	Kiwoom	910,224	71	12,820	X
10	NC	884,777	72	12,289	X

Re-adding the KBO's official daily records by home club, Samsung came first with 1,669,050 fans. The gap to second-place LG is 94,312. Three clubs, through third-place Doosan, have topped 1.4 million. Because the number of home games differs by club, we also calculated averages, and the order by average attendance matched the cumulative ranking exactly. Still, this ranking is a midseason tally.

Two dividing lines in the standings stand out. The gap between KIA and SSG is only 3,488. KT, at 1,004,272, cleared the 1 million line by 4,272. Kiwoom is 89,776 short of 1 million, and NC is 115,223 short. Whether the number of 1-million-attendance clubs will grow beyond 8 has not yet been decided.

Average Attendance of 17,685: The Difference Between a 4% Increase and a 0.4% Increase

Average attendance per game is 17,685 (as of 5 a.m. on 2026.10.06). The KBO said this is up about 4% compared with the same number of games last year, a comparison at the same 699-game point. If this year's 699-game total is compared with last year's full 720 games, the increase shrinks to 49,481, or about 0.402%. You can read it this way: the pace of attendance so far is 4% up, while the current gap with last season's full total is 0.4%.

According to Chosun Biz, 21 of the 720 regular-season games remain. The number of sellout games differed by outlet. Newspim reported 331 games, but the KBO announcement the same day said that last year's record of 331 sellouts was 1 game away. By that announcement, sellouts stand at 330. This article follows the official announcement.

The remaining schedule is 21 regular-season games. The final attendance, the club-by-club rankings and the number of sellout games will be settled after those games are over. The figures in this article are records through the end of the October 5 games, checked at 5 a.m. on the 6th. Club averages and gaps were calculated by re-tallying the KBO's daily records. The figures in media reports also cite KBO announcements, so they have not been verified against separate counts taken at the ballparks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. In how many games was the KBO attendance record set?

On October 5, in the 699th game, attendance reached 12,362,000, surpassing the 12,312,519 for all 720 games of the 2025 season (as of 5 a.m. on 2026.10.06).

Q. How many KBO clubs have drawn 1 million fans?

There are 8 clubs: Samsung, LG, Doosan, Lotte, KIA, SSG, Hanwha and KT. As of October 5, Kiwoom (910,224) and NC (884,777) have not yet reached 1 million.

Q. What is the average attendance in the 2026 KBO League?

It is 17,685 per game. The KBO announced that this is up about 4% compared with the same number of games last year.

Related Official Sites

KBO official attendance by club — Check your favorite club's cumulative home attendance
KBO official daily attendance — Check attendance for each game and the attendance trend over the remaining schedule
KBO official attendance by year — Compare attendance records across past seasons

Featured image · Archival photo · Not a photo of a current game in this article · Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Trainholic), CC BY-SA 3.0