The popularity of professional baseball is unusual. Since the opening two-game series, it has set historical records, significantly increasing expectations for 10 million fans for two consecutive years.

On the 23rd, all games of the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League held at five stadiums across the country were sold out. The Jamshil Lotte Giants-LG Twins game (23,750 fans), the Munhak Doosan Bears-SSG Landers game (23,000 fans), the Suwon Hanwha Eagles-KT Wiz game (18,700 fans), the Gwangju NC Dinos-KIA Tigers game (20,500 fans), and the Daegu Kiwoom Heroes-Samsung Lions game (24,000 fans) were all filled to capacity without any empty seats.

The day before the opening game, all games in the opening series were sold out consecutively. It is the first time in KBO League history that all games in an opening two-game series were sold out. The total attendance for the two-game series was 219,100, setting the highest attendance record for an opening series.

As the season begins, the footfall of fans who have been waiting for baseball all winter has not ceased. However, among fans, there are complaints such as "It's too hard to watch baseball." The explosive popularity of baseball has turned ticket reservations into a "war". The number of simultaneous users on booking sites reached about 200,000, more than double compared to the previous year. The ticketing war among baseball fans is fierce to the extent that the sites were overloaded and shut down.

An even bigger problem is that the popularity of baseball has led to ticket scalpers running rampant. Scalpers use macro programs to purchase tickets in bulk and sell them at prices several times higher than the original. They exploit the desire of fans who want to enjoy baseball at the venue.

There has been a sharp rise in online ticket fraud as well. On the 23rd, KIA urged caution against ticket scams in a post on the club's social media, stating, "The methods and contents of the fraud are becoming more diverse, such as delivering fake smart tickets or inducing deposits and then disappearing. We ask fans to never purchase scalped tickets to prevent damage. The club will also do its best to reduce ticket scalping damage."

As the Daegu Police Agency began operating a dedicated investigation team to crack down on ticket scalping in line with the baseball opening, it is time for the KBO and clubs to actively work to eliminate scalping. Prohibiting the transfer of advance bookings or season tickets could be one way.

The LG club was the first to take strong action. After detecting attempts to resell tickets for the opening game booked with annual member advance booking benefits on the 21st, they canceled the purchase of those tickets and notified that the seller would be banned from future annual membership sign-ups and participation in all events operated by the club, thus revoking their long-term continuous membership qualifications. LG promised, "The club will continuously monitor ticket reselling actions to promote a healthy viewing culture."

The KBO League recorded 10,887,705 attendees last year, becoming the first in domestic professional sports history to surpass the dream milestone of 10 million fans. Following the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for outdoor activities has increased, and overall professional sports have seen a rise in attendance, with baseball's popularity being exceptional. It has established itself as a daily sport that can be enjoyed six times a week, becoming a cost-effective leisure activity in a time of high inflation.

With young stars emerging from each team, the number of new fans, particularly women in their 20s and 30s, has increased. Since a contract for broadcasting rights was signed last March that allowed the full use of shorts under 40 seconds, young fans have been consuming baseball through a much wider variety of content. Successfully attracting new fans in their teens and 20s, baseball's popularity is reaching its peak.

This year, the Hanwha Life Baseball Park in Daejeon opened, adding another baseball stadium with a capacity of 20,000 seats, as it challenges for 10 million fans for two consecutive years. While it firmly holds the title of the most popular sport in the country, it is crucial to eradicate scalping to form a healthy viewing culture. The current excitement could easily dissipate in an instant. The better things are going, the more management is needed. It is time for the KBO and clubs to unite to tackle scalping instead of becoming complacent with the 10 million audience.

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