The professional baseball Hanwha Eagles claimed first place in the first half for the first time in 33 years, proving once again their immense popularity with record-high ratings.
The KBO announced on the 16th, "The 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO completed the first half with 440 games. For the first time in history, the first half achieved 7 million spectators, and the heat from fans was also evident through fan viewing data," and disclosed the first half viewing figures.
The viewership rating for the first half of the 2025 KBO League was 1.17%, an approximate 10% increase compared to the first half of the 2024 season, which was 1.06%. The game with the highest viewership was the Hanwha-KIA match held in Gwangju on June 8, recording a viewership rating of 3.44% with 812,888 viewers. The Hanwha versus KIA matches recorded an average viewership of 2.93% across 11 games, totaling 7,656,087 viewers.
Meanwhile, there were a total of 7 games that surpassed a viewership rating of 3%, with KIA and Hanwha facing off 5 times, and Lotte and Hanwha competing 2 times. During the first half of the 2024 season, there were no games that exceeded a 3% viewership rating. The number of games surpassing a 2% viewership rating increased significantly to 47 games compared to 26 games in the previous season's first half.
The viewer ratio through the mixed broadcast platform (TVING) also saw a significant increase. The unique viewers (UV) per game during the first half increased by approximately 40% compared to last year’s first half. Additionally, the viewing time per game increased by about 60% compared to the first half of the 2024 season, reflecting the high interest from fans in the viewing indicators of both wired and wireless platforms.
Since last year, the KBO has been broadcasting major KBO League games live in CGV theaters across the country. This season, a total of 35 games (including the All-Star) were broadcast, attracting over 10,000 spectators who enjoyed the KBO League at movie theaters. In particular, the opening game between Doosan and SSG, shown at CGV Dong-su-won, CGV Yongsan I-Park Mall, and CGV Incheon, recorded a seat occupancy rate of 96.8%.
The viewership for the 2025 KBO All-Star Game was 2.36% across five cable companies, with 627,351 viewers. The KBO Futures All-Star Game had a viewership rating of 1.16%, with 318,011 viewers.
Hanwha finished the first half in the league lead with a record of 52 wins, 2 ties, and 33 losses, for a winning percentage of .612. This marks the first time in 33 years that Hanwha has claimed first in the first half since winning the regular season championship and finishing as runner-up in the Korean Series in 1992.
Having the best season, Hanwha is achieving unprecedented success at the box office as well. In the 43 games held at their home stadium, Daejeon Hanwha Life Global Dome (17,000 seats), the total attendance reached 727,959, with a seat occupancy rate of 99.6%. The viewership ratings also clearly demonstrated Hanwha's popularity. All the matches in the top 10 viewership ratings this season included Hanwha matchups. The Hanwha-KIA games swept the top four rankings, while the 6th, 8th, and tied 10th were also occupied by the clashes between Hanwha and KIA. The matches between Hanwha and Lotte ranked 5th and 7th, while a game between Hanwha and Doosan made it to the tied 8th once.
[OSEN]