"From Now On, NC Is the North Carolina Team"... Hello! K Sports

Overseas Media like ESPN Broadcast Live Korean Baseball
Professional Soccer Also Negotiates New Media Platforms

Image source=Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] "We have decided which Korean professional baseball team to support. From now on, this account is an NC Dinos fan account."

The social network service (SNS) account of the Durham Bulls, a minor league baseball team based in Durham, North Carolina, USA, has recently been filled with interest in the Korean professional baseball team NC. This follows the live broadcast of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) League opening game between NC and Samsung Lions on the 5th (local time) through the US sports media ESPN.

In a situation where major professional sports leagues worldwide have been suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the domestic professional baseball league, which started the new season first even without spectators, is being used as broadcast content in the US and Japan, drawing global attention to 'K-Sports.'

The Durham Bulls, a minor league team based in North Carolina, USA, posted a photo on social media featuring their team mascot, the bull, alongside the mascots of NC, captioning it as "The beginning of a beautiful friendship."
[Image source=Durham Bulls Twitter]

◆ 'NC' stands for North Carolina= North Carolina is a sports-loving city with regional teams in the National Football League (NFL), National Basketball Association (NBA), and National Hockey League (NHL), but it does not have a Major League Baseball team among the four major sports. This is why they chose to support NC, which shares the same English abbreviation as North Carolina, through the live broadcast of the KBO League.

Dinosaur fossils are often found here, and since the NC Dinos' team name is derived from the English word 'dinosaur' and their mascot is also a dinosaur, it is interpreted that they felt a sense of familiarity. The Durham Bulls posted a photo on SNS showing their team mascot, a bull, alongside the NC mascots, calling it "the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

ESPN has secured the US TV broadcast rights for this season's KBO League and plans to broadcast one game live every day. Taking this opportunity, an article introducing the 10 domestic professional baseball teams was published online the day before. For example, it mentioned the Hanwha Eagles, who have never won the championship since their one Korean Series title in 1999, comparing them to the Chicago Cubs, who won the World Series in 2016 after 108 years.

In Japan, the wired and wireless platform 'Spozon' has secured the broadcast rights for the KBO League in Japan and plans to broadcast two games live every day from the opening game.

Photo by Korea Professional Football League

◆ Professional soccer K League also 'New Normal'= The domestic professional soccer K League, which will open without spectators on the 8th, is also attracting attention overseas. The Korea Professional Football League produced a manual detailing how the K League overcame COVID-19 and prepared for the opening, which was provided to the 'World Leagues Forum,' an organization with over 40 major soccer leagues worldwide as members.

This was in response to the World Leagues Forum's request, stating, "With leagues worldwide suspended or delayed due to COVID-19, the K League can serve as a good example." The manual includes guidelines such as COVID-19 diagnostic testing for all players before the opening and three temperature checks before each game. Broadcast rights have also been sold to about ten countries including Germany, China, Hong Kong, and Croatia.

Domestically, interest in K League content is high, with all games being broadcast live through portal sites. A professional football league official said, "We are also negotiating broadcast rights with new media platforms such as Wavve, U+ Mobile TV, and KT Season."

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