Andrew Ortenberg
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Great news for deprived sports fans, as ESPN announced Monday they had reached a deal to televise Korean baseball games. The deal will start nearly immediately, with ESPN televising the league’s opening day on Tuesday.
Of course, there are plenty of opportunities to bet on the KBO, and now you’ll be able to watch the games pretty easily. As part of the deal, ESPN will broadcast six games per week, and they’ll have their own commentators on the call.
The first game will be on ESPN between the NC Dinos and Samsung Lions at 1 a.m. ET on Tuesday. The Dinos are a modest favorite for that one, clocking in at around -150 at most sportsbooks. If you’re looking to bet on the season opener then check out our KBO picks page.
For the most part games will be aired on ESPN2, with start times of 5:30 a.m. ET for Tuesdays through Fridays, 4 a.m. ET on Saturdays, and 1 a.m. ET on Sundays.
As the league takes precautions during the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be no fans in the seats when play begins, perhaps diminishing any home-field advantage a team might usually have. It’ll be interesting to see if there could then be some value in betting road teams before oddsmakers adjust.
The Doosan Bears are the defending champions of the Korean league, and they’ve got a couple of familiar names on the squad. Infielder Jose Miguel Fernandez, who was in MLB with the Angels in 2018, is one of their best players. The Bears also recently signed Chris Flexen, a former top prospect of the Mets who pitched for a few seasons in New York.
There’s pretty much nothing else going on, so the games should be able to get decent ratings. If you’re up for watching at the unusual start times, it might not be too hard to gain a gambling edge for a sport the general public doesn’t know too much about.
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