Baseball has been the country's most popular sport in recent years. The KBO surpassed the 7 million mark for the first time in 2012 with 7.16 million, before the number dipped to 6.44 million the following year. After a slight increase to 6.51 million in 2014, the league established a new record with 7.36 million in 2015 and outdid itself with 8.34 million last year.