Explosion of Spectators Produced by All-Time Race

[First Half of Professional Baseball] ① Explosion of Spectators Produced by All-Time Race… 10 Million Era in sight

From 1st place KIA to 10th place Kiwoom, it's a close race with 13 games left... All are candidates for the fall baseball.

KIA and LG are the two strongest teams, Samsung is advancing and Doosan is doing well... Attention is focused on Lotte and Hanwha's moves in the second half of the season.

Doosan has the most spectators, KIA spectators surge 77%... Possibility of playing in the fall baseball with 'El Lotte' is also a good factor.

Yonhap News is sending out three special articles covering the regular league situation, records from the first half, and the biggest issues of the first half. 토토사이트 순위

Before opening the lid, few could have predicted that the 2024 professional baseball regular season would be this exciting.

Since the regular season opened on March 23, the 10 teams have been running for more than three months without a moment to catch their breath.

The results are shown in the interim rankings as of the 4th.

From the leading KIA Tigers to the 10th place Kiwoom Heroes, 10 teams are fiercely fighting for a ticket to the fall baseball league within 13 games.

There is no time to look away.

Unlike previous years, no team has fallen to the bottom early.

This is the ultimate season of equal power, with all 10 teams hoping to advance to the postseason.

The gap from 1st place to 5th place SSG Landers, who are catching the last train of the postseason, is 8 games. From 5th place to Kiwoom, 6 teams are densely packed within 5 games.

KIA, which was evaluated as one of the top 3 teams by experts before the season, and LG Twins, last year's integrated champion, lived up to expectations by taking 1st and 2nd place.

However, another championship contender, KT Wiz, fell to the bottom after struggling with injuries to their starting players, but is slowly rebounding to 7th place.

Samsung Lions took KT's place.

Samsung, which fell to last place after suffering 8 consecutive losses in the beginning of the season, rose to 4th place with 'defensive baseball' led by a strong bullpen.

KIA's unexpected solo run, LG's stamina despite a weak mound, and Samsung's advance were the topics that determined the first half of the season.

KIA, led by manager Lee Beom-ho (42), the first KBO League manager born in the 1980s, got off to a good start with 21 wins and 10 losses as of April.

With the injury of the first starter Will Crow and the surgery of the fourth starter Lee Eui-ri, KIA barely hovered around the .500 winning percentage in May and June, but thanks to the early wins, they finished the first half of the season in first place.

LG overcame the weakened mound with the Twins’ unique offensive baseball.

Left-handed pitcher Son Ju-young, who was active as the fifth starter, and Yoo Young-chan, who was the closer this season, saved the team with better-than-expected pitching.

Despite the weakness of the starting lineup, including the slump of ace Raul Alcantara and the injury of Brandon Waddell, Doosan displayed its characteristic organizational skills and took third place in the first half of the year.

The young bullpen led by Kim Taek-yeon, Lee Byung-hun, and Choi Ji-kang supported Doosan’s tenacity.

The Lotte Giants, led by Manager Kim Tae-hyung, who had been wandering around the bottom until May, made a sharp comeback in June and joined the mid-ranking battle.

There are many expectations that the second half performance of the Hanwha Eagles and Lotte, led by 'matchmaker' Manager Kim Kyung-moon, will be the biggest variable.

Manager Kim Kyung-moon, who returned to the KBO League after six years, took over with a record of 24 wins, 1 draw, and 32 losses, and has recorded 12 wins, 1 draw, and 12 losses since June 4.

The gap with the mid-ranking is not that big, so if they add more wins in the second half, they can aim for the fall baseball.

Thanks to the exciting races that shake up the rankings when you wake up, the box office is also at an all-time high.

This year, professional baseball surpassed 6 million spectators in the first half of the season and the lowest number of games ever (418 games).

On the last day of the first half, the 4th, 64,201 spectators visited 5 stadiums across the country, recording a total of 6,057,323 spectators for the season.

If this trend continues, it will easily surpass 10 million by the end of the season.

For the first time ever, the era of 10 million spectators in a season is upon us.

Regardless of the opposing team, KIA's spectators are so crowded that it is difficult to get skybox tickets at Gwangju Kia Champions Field.

The number of spectators has increased by 77% compared to the same number of games last year.

The number of spectators for Samsung, Doosan, NC Dinos, and Hanwha has also increased by more than 40% compared to last year, and the total number of spectators this year has increased by 32% compared to last year.

The evaluation that the increase in MZ generation and female fans in their 20s led to the explosion of spectators is pouring in from the field.

By team, Doosan (821,260 people), LG (725,538 people), and KIA (692,744 people) formed the big 3.

The possibility of the nationwide 'El Lotte' (LG, Lotte, KIA) playing together in the fall baseball is also a good factor that will bring forward the era of 10 million spectators.