Get Your LIVE Baseball Fix: ESPN to Air KBO Games Starting Late Tonight

PRESS RELEASE – ESPN today announced it has reached an agreement with Eclat Media Group regarding the KBO League – South Korea’s most popular sports league – to exclusively televise six, live regular-season games per week in the U.S. starting with Opening Day – NC Dinos vs. Samsung Lions – on Tuesday, May 5, at 1 a.m. ET / Monday, May 4, at 10 p.m. PT.

KBO to Start Playing May 5

The South Korean baseball league announced it will start its delayed season on May 5, and wasted no time getting preseason games going.  The teams will play initially without fans.  Read more here.

Independent Pro Ball Taking Root in South Korea

Baseball has a long history is South Korea.  The professional Korea Baseball Organization has been around since 1982.  Relatively new to the country is independent baseball in form of the Korea Independent Baseball Association (KIBA) and affiliated Gyeonggi-do Challenge Baseball League (GCBL).  Read more here and here.

South Korean Baseball Culture: Dance Moves and Booming Cheers

Drumbeats roar and electric music plays as people dressed in uniforms swing to the rhythm together.  At first, it may seem like a rock concert, but this is actually what a South Korean baseball game is all about.  Read more and watch ABC news report here.

Debating the Merits of a New Domed Ballpark in Seoul

Experts in architecture and sports facilities management on Friday debated the merits of building a new domed baseball stadium in Seoul, South Korea.  Read more here.

A Taste of Ballpark Food in Korea

Hot dogs and nachos are often associated with baseball in the United States.  For Korean baseball fans, however, the range of options is far wider.  Read more and view photos here.

Heroes Strike Domed-Stadium Deal

The Nexen Heroes (Korea Baseball Organization) on Monday reached an agreement in principle with Seoul Metropolitan Government to move into South Korea’s first domed baseball stadium next season.  The Heroes, one of three Seoul-based KBO clubs, will relocate from Mokdong Stadium to Gocheok Sky Dome for two seasons starting in 2016.  Read more here.

Korean Pro Baseball ‘Sportainment’ Attracting Larger Crowds, Particularly Young Women

South Korean baseball is attracting ever larger—and ever younger—crowds, with particular growth among college students, young professionals and women.  The LG Twins say that the percentage of women in its team fan club has jumped 45% this year from 25% in 2011.  Read more here.

Still No Tenant for New ‘Gocheok Dome’

South Korea’s first domed baseball stadium, dubbed the “Gocheok Dome” for the time being, is expected to be completed in August.  But, the 18,000-seat facility still doesn’t have a tenant.  The local government is in talks with the Korea Baseball Organization‘s Nexen Heroes, but souring construction costs has forced officials to seek lease terms that would be financially challenging for the KBO’s only franchise that is not corporate owned.  Read more here.

Councilman Throws Eggs at Mayor Over Baseball Stadium Location

Changwon City Councilman Kim Sung-il threw two eggs at Mayor Ahn Sang-soo over Ahn’s decision to relocate the construction site for the NC Dinos’ baseball stadium from its originally planned location in Kim’s Jinhae District to another area.  Read more and see photo here.  Watch video here.

Site Selected for New Ballpark for NC Dinos

The southeastern city of Changwon (South Korea) on Thursday announced the site for the new baseball park to be built for the Korea Baseball Organization’s NC Dinos, ending a months-long dispute over the stadium’s location.  Read more here.  Read background story here.

Korean Pro Baseball Team Introduces ‘Fanbots’

The Hanwha Eagles ( Korea Baseball Organization) of Daejeon (South Korea) have dedicated a section of their stadium’s seating to new robots, which will project messages and photos sent from fans who are unable to make it to games.  Read more and watch video here.

KBO’s Kia Tigers to Open New Ballpark

The Korea Baseball Organization’s (KBO) Kia Tigers will open the new Gwangju-Kia Champions Field on Saturday against the Doosan Bears.  Read more here. Watch the Tigers v.s. Bears at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in 2013.

Gwangju-Kia Champions Field Rendering

Safety Concerns Prompt Korea Pro Baseball to Require New Outfield Padding

The professional Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced Thursday it will require its teams to add new protective padding to walls at their home ballparks before the start of the 2015 season.  The padding must be at least 80 millimeters thick.  Read more here.

MLB Consultant Looks Over KBO Ballparks

Murray Cook, Major League Baseball’s head field and ballpark consultant, was in South Korea last week at the invitation of the Korea Baseball Organization to conduct reviews on their facilities and establish maintenance guidelines that will lead to an overall increase in standards.  Read more here.

Korea’s Professional Baseball League Has a New Logo

We are not exactly sure when the Korea Baseball Organization introduced its new logo, but maybe you can figure it out by trolling through the league’s website.  In any case, we like the makeover and appreciate how the KBO has creatively chosen to unveil the true meaning behind it.  Watch nifty video here.  View old logo here.

Pro Teams in Seoul Not Interested in New Dome

Strike one up for outdoor baseball.  The three Korea Baseball Organization teams that play in Seoul, South Korea — the  LG Twins and Doosan Bears, who share Jamsil Stadium, and the Nexen Heroes, who play at Mokdong Stadium — appear to have little interest in moving their teams to the new state-of-the-art, 22,000-seat domed stadium on track to be built by next year.  Read more here.

‘Cheering in Korea’ Documentary in the Works

Philip Riccobono, an American teaching English in Korea, became intrigued by the art of cheering at Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) baseball games.  He is now making a documentary about this phenomenon to show the world, particularly MLB fans, what they’re missing out on.  Read more here.  View Facebook page here.

A Refreshing Ballpark Treat in South Korea

One of the ballpark favorites in South Korea is bingsu, a refreshing shaved ice treat with toppings.  The original bingsu is shaved ice capped with red beans, but now you can dress up your shaved ice with pretty much any topping(s) you like.  Read more here.

Kia Tigers to Get New Stadium

The Kia Tigers from the Korea professional baseball league are slated to get a new 25,000-seat, $3 billion won (around $26 million US, we think) ballpark in Gwangju.  The stadium is expected to open in 2014.  Read more here.

Pro Baseball in Korea: Cheerleaders, Music, Fun to the Extreme

In South Korea, the professional baseball experience for fans is more football game or rock concert than America’s pastime.  Games in South Korea appear to even put the wacky minor leagues to shame when it comes to fun.  And the game itself is actually integral to the fan experience.  Read more and view news clip here.

Baseball a Corporate Game in South Korea

The professional baseball business is a little bit different in places like South Korea and Japan.  Corporate owned teams are used as marketing vehicles to drive image and corporate brands.  Read more here.  Oh, and the Kia Tigers won the Korea Baseball Organization title last weekend.

The Business of Baseball in Korea

Staff reporter Kim Tong-hyung from the Korea Times takes an interesting look at the business operations of the eight teams in the Korea Baseball Organization. Read more here.