8780 at Sajik Gymnasium in Busan, 5202 at Jamsil Gymnasium in Seoul, and 5002 at Sono Arena in Goyang.
These are the numbers of fans who attended the first Sunday games of the 2023-2024 season. Despite the failure of the Hangzhou Asian Games, the popularity of professional basketball is slowly reaching a boiling point. A lot of stories about relocations, new teams, and star transfers have taken the spotlight away from fans at the start of the season.
The KBL announced today that the six games played in the opening week of this season’s professional basketball season drew a total of 3437 fans, bringing the season’s average attendance to 5073. This is more than double the 2221 fans in the opening six games of last season. Last season’s first six games drew 2947 fans. The highest average attendance in the history of professional basketball is 4409 in the 2011-2012 season.
Busan KCC, which moved from Jeonju, has been particularly popular. The team filled the stadium for its first game against the Seoul Samsung on Feb. 22. It was the first time in 17 years that more than 8,000 people attended a game in the opening week since Seoul Samsung and Busan KTF (now Suwon KT) played at Jamsil Gymnasium in Seoul on October 19, 2006 (11,848). KCC is poised to make a splash this season with a roster that includes Heo Woong (30), Ragan-ah (34), Lee Seung-hyun (31), and Choi Jun-yong (29), all of whom are in the national team lineup. 안전놀이터
Goyang Sono’s popularity is also on the rise. The Goyang-based team, which was on the verge of disappearing, was saved by Sono’s arrival, and the professional basketball league maintained its 10-team system. Sono welcomed fans to Goyang Gymnasium with new decorations.
The official opening game between defending champion Anyang Jeonggwanjang and Seoul SK at Anyang Gymnasium on the 21st was also a box office success, with 4,210 people attending.