US NBC "ESPN's Request for Free KBO League Videos Disappointing"

On the afternoon of the 2nd at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field, KIA Tigers players held their closing gatherings after finishing their intrasquad scrimmage, with the White Team winning 8-5 and the Red Team losing. Photo by Yonhap News.

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Seul-gi] The American sports channel ESPN's request for KBO League footage for free was reported as "disappointing" by the American media NBC.

On the 23rd (Korean time), NBC stated, "Considering the lack of ongoing American sports, ESPN's desire to showcase Korean baseball is understandable. However, free broadcasting rights are quite unusual," adding, "ESPN needs content, and the league owns the content. Therefore, the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) can exercise full authority."

They continued, "It is unclear where ESPN got the idea that they could broadcast the KBO League without paying," and reported, "The KBO League is regarded as having a higher level of play than the Taiwan Professional Baseball League."

Furthermore, they criticized, "ESPN's actions are, needless to say, a disappointing development. Korean baseball is truly entertaining and would have been a welcome addition to terrestrial broadcasts."

Earlier, when all professional sports games in the United States were completely suspended due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), ESPN expressed its intention to broadcast the league to the KBO. ESPN is a sports channel broadcast nationwide across the United States.

However, it has been reported that ESPN recently requested free footage while negotiating with the broadcasting rights company 'Aikla,' which acquired the overseas rights for the KBO League broadcast.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.