It is unknown when the Major League Baseball season will finally be able to get underway, but baseball may be returning to American airwaves soon.
According to Daniel Kim, who covers MLB and the Korean Baseball Organization, ESPN has approached the KBO about broadcasting its games during the shutdown.
According to a report by Sports Chosun, #ESPN inquired about #KBO broadcasting rights. Talks are at preliminary stage and not anywhere close to an agreement yet. Stay tuned! pic.twitter.com/O2mP6VYfVA
— Daniel Kim 대니얼 김 (@DanielKimW) April 13, 2020
Talks are still in the preliminary stage, but Ryu Dae-han, the KBO's managing director, told Kim that “if talks do progress, KBO would try their best to reach a deal with ESPN."
The KBO season was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the curve of new cases has been flattened in South Korea, and teams have been able to scrimmage each other the past few weeks. Many of those scrimmages were available to stream on Youtube, and the positive reception showed there was demand for baseball in the West.
The KBO preseason is tentatively scheduled to start Apr. 21, and the regular season could begin in early May.
There would be logistical issues to address to broadcasting these games, including the different time zones. The country is 13 hours ahead of the United States' Eastern Time zone.
MLB has postponed the start of the regular season to until at least May 9, though it will likely not begin until June or July. MLB has also considered other proposals to get the season started as quickly as possible, like starting the season in each team's spring training facility.
ALEX'S VIEW:
I am very much in favor of this. There is a good chance we could go another two months or more without the MLB, so there will be demand and time to watch the KBO season unfold. If it would only be for a couple weeks, going through the hassle of broadcasting these games probably wouldn't be worth it.
While the KBO is not at the same level, talent-wise, it has become one of the trendier places for international free agents and for former MLB players and prospects to regain their form. It's probably closer to watching a league of triple-A teams, which sounds good about now.
Plus, these games are a blast to watch. Missing the crowd will take some fun out of it early on, but there is a lot of energy on the field, too. If you like bat flips, you're going to love this league. If you like watching a guy bat flip an out and take a long walk of shame back to the dugout, you're going to adore this league.
How could you not want that to be broadcasted right now?
