For many people, July 4th may include some combination of beach, barbecue and fireworks, maybe with a little baseball. In fact, every team in the Major Leagues will play on Saturday. But the game is having a banner season outside the United States. One place where it's booming this summer is South Korea.
This has already been a record-setting season for baseball in South Korea. This week, attendance for Korea’s professional league broke 7 million — the fastest it's ever reached that level.
A little more than halfway through the season, attendance is on track to shatter last year’s record.
Nearly 60% of the games sell out. And the demographics are continuing a pattern that’s become familiar in recent years: with a key role played by young women.
The Korea Baseball Organization reports nearly 40% of ticket buyers last year were women in their 20s and 30s, and the trend is continuing this year.
Many Korean media outlets are comparing the boom in baseball to K-pop fandom — with a healthy dose of digital enthusiasm at the ballparks.
Baseball teams have responded by increasing their social media content and opportunities. Korea's Aju Press quotes a league official as saying, “The ballpark is not just a stadium now — it’s a platform.”
Professional baseball is also enjoying a strong season elsewhere in Asia. And while the trend is not as pronounced as in South Korea, in both Taiwan and Japan, women are making up a growing portion of fans and paying customers.
