What to know on the day you go to a KBO game

Right now

1. 1Check the home team for the date you want on the KBO schedule. Tickets are sold only through the home club's vendor, and when the same two teams play at the other venue the vendor changes too.
2. 2Sales usually open 7 days before the game. LG opens at 11 a.m. and Kiwoom's general sale opens at 2 p.m. Weekend games and popular matchups sell out the same day, so be there when sales open.
3. 3A glass bottle in your bag will be stopped at the gate. Decant drinks into plastic bottles of 1 liter or less, and if you bring alcohol, bring only low-strength beer.

What to have ready

• A vendor account: Whether you need Ticketlink, NOL Ticket or the club's own site is decided by the home team. The most common failure is trying to sign up on game day and getting stuck at identity verification.
• Drinks in plastic bottles of 1 liter or less: Glass is banned at every stadium. The KBO-wide rule allows up to 2 unopened cans, but some stadiums set a tighter limit.
• A light jacket: From mid September, Sunday games start at 2 p.m. and end in daylight, but weekday games start at 6:30 p.m. and run into the night.
• ID: Seats sold to foreign visitors at the Gocheok Sky Dome box office are sold after an ID check. You may also be asked for it when buying alcohol.
• Phone battery: Most tickets are mobile tickets, and the lyrics to the cheer songs are on the club's social media or app.

Phrases you can copy and paste

Step by step

1. 1
   

   Who the home team is decides where you buy

   The KBO League has ten clubs playing 144 games each, and tickets are sold by that day's home club rather than by the league. According to the KBO ticket guide page, vendors fall into three groups. Home games of the LG Twins, Hanwha Eagles, Samsung Lions, KT Wiz and KIA Tigers are on Ticketlink (티켓링크). Home games of the Doosan Bears and Kiwoom Heroes are on NOL Ticket (NOL 티켓), formerly Interpark Ticket. The SSG Landers, Lotte Giants and NC Dinos each sell through booking sites they built themselves. So even when the same two teams meet, you go to Ticketlink if the venue is Jamsil and to NOL Ticket if it is Gocheok. Pressing the booking button on a club's website eventually sends you to one of these vendors, though some clubs, Kiwoom among them, let you book directly with a club website ID. Opening times vary a little by club. LG opens 7 days before a home game at 11 a.m. and sells until 1 hour after the first pitch. Kiwoom opens a presale for paying members at 11 a.m. 7 days out and the general sale at 2 p.m. Paid memberships and season tickets get in a few hours earlier, so the good seats for a popular weekend game can already be gone by the time the general sale opens.

2. 2

   The sign-up hurdle differs by vendor

   This is where foreign visitors most often get stuck. NOL Ticket's customer center says that foreign nationals and people living abroad can create an account, but adds that using the service may require identity verification with a Korean mobile number in your own name. For users overseas it points to a separate global site called NOL World. In other words, with a Korean number you take the normal route, and without one you go around through the global site. For Ticketlink and the clubs' own booking sites, you have to check on the sign-up screen what verification they ask for. At the time of writing we could not confirm those procedures in writing, so no values are given here. Where and how mobile identity verification and the foreigner registration number are required is covered separately in the identity verification guide. If online fails, the box office remains. From the 2026 season Kiwoom widened on-site sales at the Gocheok Sky Dome box office, previously limited to people aged 65 and over and people with disabilities, to include foreign spectators. For every game it sells 100 Burgundy seats on the first and third base sides and 100 outfield seats after checking ID. Other stadiums open their box offices too, but which seats they hold back, and how many, is up to each club.

3. 3

   Seat prices depend on the day and the location

   Prices differ by club, differ within the same club between weekdays and weekends, and split again by whether the section is where the cheering squad sits. Take the LG Twins' 2026 price list for Jamsil home games as an example. Outfield Green seats are 10,000 won on weekdays and 11,000 won on weekends, the infield Orange seats where the cheering squad is are 22,000 won and 24,000 won, the Exciting Zone right up against the field is 30,000 won and 35,000 won, and Premium seats are 100,000 won. A booking fee of 1,000 won per ticket is added on top. Other clubs use different tier names and prices, so look at that club's price list. The principle is the same everywhere. Prices go up the closer you are to home plate, the nearer the front row, and the more furniture like a table or sofa comes with the seat, and they fall as you move to the outfield. There is also a cap on how many tickets one person can buy. LG allows 8 per game and Doosan 4 per transaction. LG, Doosan and Kiwoom all allow cancellation up to 4 hours before the first pitch, and unless you cancel on the day you booked, 10 percent of the ticket price is deducted as a cancellation fee. Kiwoom refunds the booking fee too, with no cancellation fee, if you cancel on the day of booking.

4. 4
   

   What the bag check catches is not the food but the container

   Korean ballparks let you bring in outside food. That is why you see people queueing with fried chicken and gimbap they bought outside. What gets stopped is the container. The safety policy the KBO applies at every stadium restricts all glass bottles, plastic bottles totalling more than 1 liter, and drinks in aluminium cans, allowing only 1 plastic bottle and 2 cans per person, and only if unopened. Frozen bottled water is not allowed either. Clubs narrow this further. LG says that at Jamsil home games only beer of 8 percent alcohol or less can be brought in, and that any alcohol or drink over 1 liter is stopped. Kiwoom states that at Gocheok Sky Dome only alcohol of 8 percent or less is allowed, cans up to a total of 1 liter per person, and that 1.6 liter pitchers, cup wine, soju in cartons and soju in plastic containers are banned. Take it that a bottle of soju in your bag will not get past any stadium. Alcohol sold inside has a limit too. Under the KBO safety policy one person can buy up to 2 liters per game, and sales can stop after the bottom of the 8th inning. Gocheok has one more rule. You can bring food in when you first enter, but if you go out and come back in you cannot bring outside food with you. The rules in this paragraph were checked against the guides for the two stadiums, Jamsil and Gocheok. For Incheon, Suwon and the regional stadiums, check the entry rules on that club's guide page separately.

5. 5
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   Know which side the home cheering section is before you buy

   Korean ballparks split home and away cheering sections, and a cheer captain and cheerleaders lead the crowd from a stage on the home side from the first pitch to the last. Between innings there are cheerleader or mascot performances, and when a batter steps up, their walk-up song and personal cheer song play. Korea.net, run by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (문화체육관광부), also advises foreign visitors to learn the cheer songs on the club's social media before the game, check which team is home, and then book in the cheering section. Which side that is depends on the stadium. At Jamsil the first base side is home and the third base side is away, and on days when LG and Doosan play each other the two take turns using first base. Daegu Samsung Lions Park is the other way round, with home on the third base side. So look at the first and third base sides on the seating chart and pick the side you want to sit on. Sitting in the middle of the home cheering section in the other team's uniform breaks no rule, but you will be the one sitting down while everyone around you stands and sings a different song. If you plan to cheer for the visitors, buy on the away cheering side. The front rows right in front of the cheering stage have their view blocked by the stage, and the Korea Tourism Organization (한국관광공사) guide recommends at least 4 rows back. If you would rather not join the cheering, choose a side far from the squad, or the outfield. It does not matter which team you pick, and you do not have to pick one.

6. 6

   The 2026 season runs to 7 October and start times change month by month

   As of 6 September 2026, when this guide was written, the season is in its second half. The regular season opened on 28 March, with 135 games per team scheduled through 6 September and 45 left unscheduled at the outset. On 25 August the KBO confirmed the remaining schedule of 105 games, combining those unscheduled games with games postponed by rain, and the final day of the regular season is Wednesday 7 October. Weekday games start at a fixed 6:30 p.m., while weekend times vary by period. From 1 to 14 September, Saturday, Sunday and public holiday games start at 5 p.m. From 15 September, Saturday games start at 5 p.m. and Sunday and public holiday games at 2 p.m. During the Chuseok holiday, 24 to 27 September, every game starts at 5 p.m. Games rained out between 25 August and 28 September are rescheduled on reserve dates announced in advance, and from 29 September doubleheaders, two games on one day, become possible, with the first at 3 p.m. and the second at 6:30 p.m. When the regular season ends, the top five teams go to the postseason. The 4th and 5th place teams play a wild card round of up to 2 games, where the 4th place team advances with a single win or a single draw. The winner plays the 3rd place team in the semi-playoff, that winner plays the 2nd place team in the playoff, and that winner plays the 1st place team in the Korean Series. The Korean Series goes to the first team to 4 wins. Postseason dates and booking methods had not been announced at the time of writing, so check the press releases on the KBO website.

7. 7

   If it rains, wait. If the game is called off, the money comes back

   Baseball is a sport that gets cancelled by rain. Even if it is already pouring before the game, the game counts as on until a cancellation is announced. Rushing at this point costs you. Doosan states that if a buyer cancels on their own before a rainout is confirmed, the fee is not refunded. Once a cancellation is confirmed, on the other hand, it is processed without any application. LG says that when a game is cancelled for rain or fine dust, tickets booked online or paid by card at the venue are automatically refunded to the card, and only tickets bought with cash are refunded at the box office. Doosan processes a full refund and blanket cancellation the day after the cancellation is confirmed. A notice Ticketlink issued for an actual rainout shows that credit card reversals take a few days, and bank transfers and deposits go back to the registered account. A cancelled game does not disappear. It is rescheduled on a reserve date or at the tail end of the season, and tickets for it go on sale again. Your original ticket does not carry over automatically. If rain comes during the game, the umpires stop play and everyone waits. We could not confirm the rules for what happens after that, so check the guidance from the vendor you bought from on the spot.

8. 8
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   Two in Seoul, then Incheon, Suwon and the regions

   Three of the ten KBO clubs are in Seoul. The LG Twins and Doosan Bears share Jamsil Baseball Stadium, and the Kiwoom Heroes use Gocheok Sky Dome. Jamsil Baseball Stadium is at 25 Olympic-ro, Songpa-gu, right outside exits 5 and 6 of Sports Complex Station on lines 2 and 9. Gocheok Sky Dome, at 430 Gyeongin-ro, Guro-gu, is a domed stadium, so games go ahead in the rain. From exit 2 of Guil Station on line 1 it is a 150 meter walk to the main gate, about 3 minutes. From exit 2 of Guro Station it is a 20 minute walk, and from Sindorim Station it is three bus stops from exit 1 or 5. The Seoul Facilities Corporation (서울시설공단) advises people coming from Seoul, Suwon and Anyang to get off at Guro Station to avoid the crowds. A little way outside the capital are Incheon SSG Landers Field (618 Maesohol-ro, Michuhol-gu, Incheon) and Suwon KT Wiz Park in Suwon. The regional stadiums are the Hanwha Eagles in Daejeon, the Samsung Lions at Daegu Samsung Lions Park, the KIA Tigers at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field, the Lotte Giants at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan, and the NC Dinos at Changwon NC Park. Regional weekday games start at 6:30 p.m. and finish at night, so if you are making a day trip from Seoul, check the time of your return train first.

The Korean words

직관jikgwan, watching a game live at the stadium

Short for jikjeop gwallam, watching in person. Used in contrast to watching the broadcast.

홈경기homgyeonggi, home game

A game played at that club's own stadium. It decides where the tickets are sold.

예매처yemaecheo, ticket vendor

The site or app that sells the tickets. Split between Ticketlink, NOL Ticket and the clubs' own sites.

응원석eungwonseok, cheering section

The section in front of the stage where the cheer captain and cheerleaders stand. You stand and sing here.

1루 / 3루illu / samnu, first-base side / third-base side

The two sides of the seating chart. Which side is home differs by stadium.

우천취소ucheon chwiso, rainout

A game cancelled for rain. Once confirmed, the ticket price comes back automatically.

선예매seonyemae, presale

The window in which paying members or season ticket holders buy before the general sale.

가을야구gaeul yagu, postseason (literally autumn baseball)

The name for the postseason played by the top five teams of the regular season.

Easy to miss

• ·Looking for the vendor based on your own team. Because the home team sells the tickets, your team's away games are bought from the opposing club's vendor. A Ticketlink account alone will not get you into Doosan or Kiwoom home games.
• ·Cancelling early on the strength of a rain forecast. If you cancel on your own before a rainout is confirmed, Doosan does not refund the fee. Once confirmed, the refund is automatic with no application, so wait for the announcement.
• ·Buying canned beer and bottled soju at a convenience store on the way. Glass is banned at every stadium, can limits on number and volume vary by stadium, and soju is refused everywhere because of its strength. Jamsil lets in beer of 8 percent or less only.
• ·Turning up for a Sunday game after mid September expecting an evening start. From 15 September, Sunday and public holiday games start at 2 p.m. Saturday is 5 p.m., a three hour gap in the same weekend.
• ·Assuming your ticket for a cancelled game rolls over to the new date. It does not. The ticket price is refunded and tickets for the rescheduled game are bought from scratch.
• ·Buying the front row right in front of the cheering stage as the best seat in the house. The stage blocks the view, and the Korea Tourism Organization guide recommends at least 4 rows back.

You can skip this if

• If you want to learn the rules of baseball, this is not the guide. It covers only buying a ticket, getting in and sitting down.
• If you are trying to buy postseason tickets, the booking process may differ from what is here. The 2026 postseason schedule and booking method had not been announced as of 6 September, when this was written, so check the KBO press releases.
• If you plan to get in on a box office purchase alone at a stadium other than Gocheok Sky Dome, which seats are held back and how many differs by club, and this guide did not confirm it. Check the ticket guide on that club's website.
• If your group is larger than the general booking cap (LG 8 per game, Doosan 4 per transaction), the process here will not work. Each club has a separate channel for group bookings.

Where this comes from

• Ticket guide (KBO, Korea Baseball Organization)
• Remaining 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League regular season schedule confirmed (KBO press release, 25 August 2026)
• 2026 KBO regular season schedule announced (KBO press release, 19 December 2025)
• SAFE campaign, KBO stadium safety policy (KBO)
• Game operation system (KBO)
• Ticket guide (LG Twins)
• Kiwoom Heroes booking guide (NOL Ticket)
• Doosan Bears booking guide (NOL Ticket)
• 2026 season Gocheok Sky Dome ticket policy confirmed (Kiwoom Heroes, 20 March 2026)
• FAQ on sign-up for foreign nationals (NOL Ticket customer center)
• Beginner's guide to Jamsil Baseball Stadium (Korea Tourism Organization, Visit Korea)
• How to enjoy autumn baseball, recommended seats by stadium (Korea Tourism Organization, Visit Korea, October 2025)
• K-cheering that surprised the world (Korea.net, Korean Culture and Information Service, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, 1 April 2024)
• Directions to Gocheok Sky Dome (Seoul Facilities Corporation)
• Jamsil Baseball Stadium guide (Doosan Bears)
• Notice on the rainout and rescheduling of LG vs KIA (Ticketlink notice)