ESPN Reaches Korean Baseball Organization Broadcast Deal

ESPN has reportedly reached an agreement with a Korean broadcaster to air KBO games.

ESPN has reached an agreement with South Korean broadcaster Eclat to air Korean Baseball Organization games.

The news was first reported by Jee-ho Yoo of South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.

"We're thrilled to become the exclusive English-language home to the KBO League and to showcase its compelling action and high-level of competition," ESPN executive vice president of programming Burke Magnus said. "We have a longstanding history of documenting the game of baseball and we're excited to deliver these live events to sports fans."

ESPN will broadcast one game per day. The season opener between the Samsung Lions and the NC Dinos will be the first to air on Tuesday at 1 a.m. ET on ESPN. The Dinos' roster includes former Angels and Marlins reliever Drew Rucinski as well as former Orioles starting pitcher Mike Wright. Former White Sox and Brewers infielder Tyler Saladino plays for the Lions.

Other games on ESPN will star the Doosan Bears, LG Twins and KIA Tigers. Games will be broadcast from Tuesday through Friday at 5:30 a.m ET and then at 4 a.m. ET on Saturday and 1 a.m. ET on Sunday.

Seaho Yoon posted the planned ESPN schedule for the week:

May 5: NC/Samsung
6: Doosan vs LG
7: NC vs Samsung
8: KIA vs Samsung
9: LG vs NC
10: LG vs NC https://t.co/06ITdQndyI

— Dan Kurtz (@MyKBO) May 4, 2020

The KBO will play games without any fans in attendance. The season was delayed for six weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Social distancing and government-imposed restrictions have been relaxed in recent weeks as the country appears to have its coronavirus outbreak under control.