With more than 50 million inhabitants, South Korea is one of the nations in the world that plays the most sports and, moreover, they are varied.
Undoubtedly, after the pandemic, the popularity and desire to play sports increased drastically after several months of mandatory quarantines due to COVID-19.
In this article, we will show you the TOP 3 most popular sports in South Korea in 2022. Interested? Read on.
What are the most popular sports in South Korea?
Check out which sports rating South Koreans prefer the most in 2022.
Baseball
A sport with American origins, it is the most popular pastime in the country. About 2 million people play and attend baseball events every year in South Korea.
This sport, as previously mentioned, was created and developed in the United States and was brought to South Korea in 1905.
After the division of the Korean territory, South and North, the popularity of the sport increased until now, where it is the most chosen sport.
South Korea’s TOP league in Baseball is called KBO and was founded in 1982. It currently has 10 professional teams and, between them, they play 144 games in a regular season. Each team plays approximately 16 games against each other.
The most popular baseball team in South Korea is called The Kia Tigers, which has won 11 titles since the KBO League was founded.
Football
Football is a worldwide sport and in South Korea, it could not go unnoticed. Although, in Korean territory, citizens enjoy and watch live baseball more than soccer, Koreans choose soccer as their favorite sport, even if they do not practice it.
The country has a Professional League with a First Division (A) and a Second Division (B) each with 23 teams.
In the previous year, around 600,000 to 750,000 spectators enjoyed watching a live match in a stadium.
Koreans enjoy 해외축구중계 such as The World Cup, which they have qualified for Qatar 2022 and wish to see their national team qualify for at least the round of 16.
Basketball
Another sport originating in the United States, it is part of the last position in the TOP 3 most popular sports in South Korea.
The country has a Professional Basketball League founded in 1998 and currently has 10 teams. A total of 54 games are held and, in recent years, at least 630,000 spectators watched the games live in total.
With an average of 3,200 spectators per game, basketball is the third most popular sport in the country.
In conclusion, we can say that South Korea is a nation passionate about sports. Baseball is the one they practice the most in their daily lives and soccer is the one that fascinates them the most.
