10:05am: ESPN has formally announced the deal. They’ll broadcast six KBO games per week — one game every Tuesday through Sunday — in addition to covering the KBO postseason. Broadcast details of the postseason remain to be determined. Game selections will be made on a week-to-week basis and feature English commentary from remote ESPN broadcasters, with tonight’s game being called by Karl Ravech and Eduardo Perez and aired on ESPN 2. ESPN is also acquiring highlights rights throughout the league, and their press release notes that the telecast schedule is “subject to change pending future live event considerations.”
9:30am: After several weeks of negotiation, ESPN has reached an agreement with Korean media counterpart Eclat Media Group to broadcast Korea Baseball Organization games. The KBO announced that ESPN will be airing one game per day, beginning with tomorrow’s Opening Day contest between the Samsung Lions and the NC Dinos (Twitter link via Jee-ho Yoo of South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency). The games will be broadcast live, per the Wall Street Journal’s Jared Diamond, which isn’t ideal for U.S. fans given the time difference between the two countries, but access to any live baseball will obviously a welcome addition to many sports fans. The Lions/Dinos will air tonight at 1am EST. Here’s the remaining schedule:
- Wed. May 6: Doosan Bears vs. LG Twins (5:30am EST)
- Thurs. May 7: NC Dinos vs. Samsung Lions (5:30am EST)
- Fri. May 8: KIA Tigers vs. Samsung Lions (5:30am EST)
- Sat. May 9: LG Twins vs. NC Dinos (4am EST)
- Sun. May 10: LG Twins vs. NC Dinos (1am EST)
[Related: Former MLB Players in the KBO]
Games in the KBO are beginning without fans in attendance and with ample health regulations in place. Players will be tested prior to every game and (along with team personnel) will wear masks throughout the arena outside of the field and the dugout. High fives and spitting have been banned. Any player who shows coronavirus symptoms will be quarantined immediately, while a positive test will result in a shutdown of that player’s stadium for a 48-hour cleaning process. A positive test won’t necessarily lead to a leaguewide shutdown, although the league will meet with health experts and government officials to discuss next steps following a positive test.
MLB fans tuning in may recognize some familiar faces; as we covered here two weeks back, there are more than 30 former big league players slated to play in the KBO this season. The Dinos (Aaron Altherr, Mike Wright, Drew Rucinski) and Lions (Seunghwan Oh, Tyler Saladino, Ben Lively, David Buchanan) have seven such players. There are some well-known names in the coaching ranks, too — Matt Williams will manage the KIA Tigers this year, and Julio Franco is the hitting coach for the Lotte Giants. More than 83 percent of the 11,000 respondents in our poll last week said they’d watch some KBO coverage should ESPN (or another media outlet) acquire broadcast rights.
YAY WE CAN WATCH MORE THAN ESPORTS!!!
I am assuming the link I clicked on wasn’t the right Matt Williams???
Nice I can take a break from watching 1990s nba playoff games on YouTube
Glad KBO didn’t give into ESPN and sign over the rights for their first offer: nothing.
Lmao right? ESPN couldn’t seriously believe the KBO would be like “alright you can show our games for free”.
I hope the genius who brought that idea to the table was fired immediately.
No but he was moved to the Marketing Department
What about Canada, will these games be on TSN or Sportsnet?
What even happened to Altherr? Always thought he was gonna be good.
He’s playing in Korea for the NC Dinos
lol i meant what went wrong with the phils?
He left the Phillies to go play with the NC Dinos
He made a stop with the Mets to further prove that he can’t play.
Altherr decided he could not hit MLB fastballs, or breaking balls, or changeups.
Doesn’t get rave reviews with the bat or his defense as a OF.
Teams easily found altherrnatives
Doesn’t get rave reviews with the bat or his defense as a OF.
He went 0-1 with a strike out for the Giants last year.
Moonlight Graham style.
Awesome!
Seems like a really bad idea to me. Can’t imagine anyone watching.
Yeah exactly. Not interested at all in watching the KBO
“Not interested at all in watching the KBO…”
Then why are you on this thread?
To reply on why I don’t wanna watch it and think its silly you clown ass
*ass clown, moron.
Actually, you didn’t say why you weren’t interested in watching it
He’s not going to watch Bc he’s not old enough to have his own cable and his mom won’t spring for ESPN.
I’ve been watching KBO for years to be honest. But since you are the final word, I guess I should stop 🙁
Speak for yourself! Im tuning in!
I’m in.
Oh I thought Julio Franco was still playing.
Me to except the last word was breathing instead of playing LOL
At least he is still in Baseball
Brings me back to Mel Allen and “Baseball and Ballentine!”
If they televise baseball games from another country, I’m happy to watch them. This is good.
If they open businesses in my town, sorry, I’m not going. This is bad.
Rockies fans might want to check out the Twins. They signed Roberto Ramos, one of many prospects the organization had/has been reluctant to give a fair opportunity.
Did they say what time it will be on? Also, on regular ESPN or will they only cater to those people paying for ESPN Plus?
Wed. May 6: Doosan Bears vs. LG Twins (5:30am EST)
Thurs. May 7: NC Dinos vs. Samsung Lions (5:30am EST)
Fri. May 8: KIA Tigers vs. Samsung Lions (5:30am EST)
Sat. May 9: LG Twins vs. NC Dinos (4am EST)
Sun. May 10: LG Twins vs. NC Dinos (1am EST)
ESPN2 is the primary but recast as scheduled could appear anywhere on programming starved ESPN.
(THank goodness for them they are prodigious producers of fluff
Lol true that! Thanks for the schedule!
Wonder if Altherr, Lively and Buchanan will become close while they are playing down there? Altherr was teammates with both on the Phillies at one point. I would imagine the social circle is pretty small for former MLB, non-citizen players.
U.S. start times (at least Eastern?) for these games, please? And also, I’m sure there’ll be game-replays aired throughout the day, riiiiiight???
Schedule is out and looks like much of the games are on at 1am (ET), 4am, 5:30am (Sat).
Really testing dedication. well jokes on them. I’ve got nothing better to do.
Lol
That’s way too early for me. I’m going to have to watch them later and ask everyone to please not talk about the games at work. (yes, that was a joke.)
I thought everybody had access to time adjustment equipment. Sorry sponsors.
Why go through all the trouble of making this deal, and not time-delay the broadcasts to play them at more reasonable hours in the U.S.?
hopefully they will air them live and replay them at normal waking hours for the US
Hope so. I’m not hugely anxious to watch Korean baseball but when I was in Japan last year I did watch some Japanese baseball on TV and got something out of it even without any English commentary.
they probably will replay them, but there’s this new invention called the DVR.
No, that’s an old invention that has been obsolete since this new invention called streaming. You heard of that one, right?
Obviously it’s not a new invention, moron. Just pointing out the obvious to the idiots that don’t think there are alternatives to watching it outside of when it’s aired. Just record the effing thing.
Even if there is someone using a VCR, they would know to set that to record the game…even if they forget to change the time from 12:00AM.. The orginal question of this post has got to be from someone that missed out on technology after the early 1970s.
What a couple of sweethearts. Glad I’m not stuck at home with either of you.
Ah, you mean the super fart sniffer BlueSKY has found a couple of other people who can’t stand his defensive personality?! Wow! I am shocked! Yet another commenter had a less than pleasant interaction with you!
Love Korean baseball and the bat flips! Hate espn, skip Bayless, Steven a Smith, Mel kiper etc.
Sound off
Music on!
I hope they spent millions and no one watches.
Just Bc no one pays attention to you in your life doesn’t mean we aren’t going to watch Korean Baseball. Not sure if you’re just trying to sound cool, but almost every person on this thread is excited for this, and you look like a moron.
Skip Bayless has been gone for 5 years
You know them personally?
I was going to watch a little bit since games start at 2:30am PST it’s doubtful now
There’ll be a couple of 10pm PST games in there each week — including tonight!
lol, because a DVR is soooo hard to set?
People still have DVRs? People still have cable boxes???
You don’t have a brain or common sense, so….
dont get me wrong, i know how timezones work, but why do they have to play at a time that means we have to watch at 1 AM?
Because Korean baseball’s first priority is the Korean viewers. They don’t play the games for the USA fans.
This is the biggest news in the history of baseball. The Detroit Tigers are thinking of running the games on their small center field screen as employees in Tigers uniforms walk around the infield. The Tigers expect to capture needed revenue.
I wonder if espn knows something the general public doesn’t about the upcoming mlb season that made them want this
Well, when they start broadcasting replays of Tetris Championships (which they have done, not making that up), they’re likely scrambling for anything resembling live content of actual sporting events.
Tetris, Golden Tee, rock skipping and lawn mower races…and I’m sure I’m missing some. In the past there’s been Rock Paper Scissors and Corn Hole
Last night they has the Norwegian Death Diving championship. It was one of the most entertaining things I’ve seen in a long time.
Death diving? Please describe
I will be setting my alarm clock early…….hot dogs & peanuts for breakfast !……rooting for ex-Cubs.
No I won’t….I will be still sleeping.
For a moment there, hot dogs and peanuts for breakfast sounded pretty good!
I think the 1978 Topps cards had baseball game plays ( single, double fly out, groundout, etc ) on the back where kids would use to play a baseball game. …………..this sounds more fun to do.
Until MLB comes back, you have to think they will rebroadcast these games at a reasonable hour as well. Maybe a 7pm ET start on ESPN2? Their ratings will be atrocious if they are only broadcasting the games live. I love baseball and miss it dearly, but I am not waking up at 5:00am to watch KBO games!
I just checked the ESPN website (only checked three or four days), and it looks like the games are being rebroadcast at 1pm. This is an update from when I checked this morning after I read the article here (the broadcasts weren’t listed at all), so who knows if this is etched in stone?
This is the biggest signing of the past 2 months… I need baseball back.
I doubt Korean baseball will help much in this regard, but getting US sports back live on TV may get some people to stay at home (!!!)—a pretty vital thing right now as we’ve seen the scenes at some parks and beaches. Much as I hate to admit it as a baseball fan, getting the NBA playoffs on will be even more helpful than baseball, and there will be a significant difference in who is out there in the fall if there is no NFL than if there is. And this is not just in the US—the British government wants to restart the Premier League for just this reason. Having live sports back isn’t going to stop COVID in its tracks, but every bit helps.
I won’t watch it
I don’t know if it was in the KBO or somewhere around that region where the commentator did the long gone, just like the ex girlfriend line that turned into a meme.
lol since when did ESPN care about baseball
Probably since the same time they cared about hockey.
Mr McMahon, please rehire Drake Maverick and Zack Ryder.
Will be muting the sound with those two drips doing commentary.
Yes! Now America will finally see some
REAL baseball!
“REAL baseball” where mediocre MLB players turn into superstars… Sounds like a blast.
Damn, maybe I’ll just had to read a book or spend time with the kids.
Haha!
What is the point when the games are on in the middle of the night? If you DVR or watch them on a delayed broadcast at a normal time, what is the difference between that and watching a replay from last year? Either way it is still an old game, but with players we never heard of or players who couldn’t cut it in MLB.
Well, baseball is a global sport, and there are differing time zones around the world… As such, a live broadcast has to happen when the event occurs. You’ve really only got three choices that I can see here:
1) Watch it when it happens
2) Record it and watch it at a more convenient time for you
3) Don’t watch
Lotta folks starved for baseball, so maybe that’s the point?
KBO is way better than MLB. Can’t wait to see Tuffy Rhodes again!
Tuffy Rhodes still playing? He was a god for one game for the Cubs, and around 10 years in Japan.
Never forget Rhodes hitting 3 bombs on opening day against Doc Gooden.
So much better. Just ask “The Babe Ruth of Korea,” Eric Thames.
I think Hank Conger is coaching whatever team Dan Straily is on.
I guess any joke to be made here would be a Conger line?
Lol
hayoooh
I suspect the airtimes are actually EDT instead of EST, amiright?
Go BEARS!!!
Is the subtext that ESPN and MLB may have given up on a 2020 season, or is that reading into things too much?
I think you may be onto something. Even if MLB started back up today, the earliest that the season would start is June. Right now, even being optimistic that they’ll be able to start something up to train in June, that would mean the season starts in July…and the trend continues from there.
It also, if we do get in MLB games this year, this gives the networks and MLB a chance to experiment with how they’ll sell baseball to us if they are looking at games with empty stadiums.
I wonder which rivalry will E!SPN hype up so they can cover only those two times 90% of the time now that the Yankees, Red Sox and LeBron aren’t playing for a while, and Jeter is in Miami and Tom Brady is in Tampa Bay?
Talk about a snooze fest. The Yankees-Bosox rivalry is so played out. Nobody cares outside of those two markets.
We’re in Daylight Time, not Standard Time. The game tonight will be played at 1am EDT.
Oh nuts. If I don’t watch live and instead watch on DVR I will already know who wins. It is so difficult to avoid those Doosan Bears scores.
Is there a Korean baseball fantasy league?
Idk about y’alls but I’m jonesing for baseball at this point I’d settle for my two toddlers playing wiffleball, so yeah I’m in
I don’t think the appeal here will be centered on it being live. I think it will be more about being current. Tyler Saladino is a role model to all future players of the game. Hard work enabled him to play about every position including pitcher. As a hitter he had moments of glory but pitchers eventually would adjust & he would struggle for a long time. You do not have to hit like Abreu to play this game professionally for over a decade.
I’m glad they are showing no sign of panic in their rule set. I assume daily testing means daily washing of the hands too. ChiSox fans will understand this.
I don’t think Konerko could play under rules. He would literally play with the dirt after every pitch thrown.
MLB still has time to show they have bigger cohonies. Get infected with the virus, build the antibodies & relax. These are finely tuned athletes that should have near 0 risk of developing COVID19. Not only do they gain immunity for themselves, but also if something should happen to their loved ones they will have the ideal blood plasma
to help them.
Imagine how the nation would react if MLB did this & was playing in June w/out any casualties. Worse than COVID19 is the Great Depression fo 2020. More than 30M Americans are out of work & that means 12-15M of them will lose their employer health insurance. Now they have to deal with the high premiums of Obamacare at a time when govt assistance is shrinking. Trump helped them out by extending COBRA
options if they choose that route, but the bigger issue is the impact this will have on America’s hospitals. They depend on that premium insurance for their main sources of revenue as they bill those companies 2-4 x more than Medicare allows. They no doubt are getting by now for the COVID19 premium charges Medicare allows, but that revenue will fall off in a few months, & then they’ll have to face the hole of millions of people losing their lofty employer paid insurance.
So let me see if I can figure out your point
Is it that money is more important than life
or
Bad Economy is worse than death?
I Can’t tell which you are going for here
Do I smell something? Yes it is called DESPERATTION. My god ESPN is desperate for live content because it has very little outside of talk shows that just keep talking about the same garbage, plus do you really think anyone in North America cares about the KBO? Nope. I am desperate for sports, but not desperate to watch an empty stadium of players I don’t know squat about and never will. It would be like if MLS were broadcasting and people in Europe had the chance to tune in, they wouldn’t because they don’t know these guys and don’t care about a sub-minor league system.