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Hanwha Eagles players in masks before the KBO League opening game at the empty SK Happy Dream Ballpark.

Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

While Major League Baseball mulls an early-July return, baseballs are flying and bats are flipping South Korea. Real, live baseball games are taking place in the country's professional baseball league, the 10-team Korean Baseball Organization or KBO. With no MLB games to fill its schedule, ESPN is televising six KBO games each week, Tuesday through Sunday.

The time difference between South Korea and the US (it is 13 to 16 hours ahead) makes it a bit of a challenge to catch KBO games live. You'll need to get up early (or stay up late on the West Coast) to see a first pitch -- games start at 5:30 a.m. ET (2:30 a.m. PT) during the week and 4 a.m. ET (1 a.m. PT) or 1 a.m. ET (10 p.m. PT) on the weekend -- but perhaps you'll get in the habit of watching the final few innings with your morning coffee. You can also watch rebroadcasts starting at 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. PT) on weekdays.

Here's a quick primer to get you up to speed on the KBO so you can pick a favorite team and start your summer with live baseball on ESPN.








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When are KBO games on TV?

ESPN will broadcast six games live per week of the KBO's 144-game schedule. Games will be played in empty stadiums for now, and if a player or coach tests positive for COVID-19 , the league will be shut down for at least three weeks.

Most games will be shown on ESPN2 Tuesday through Friday at 5:30 a.m. ET, with games on ESPN on Saturdays at 4 a.m. ET and Sundays at 1 a.m. ET. You'll also find rebroadcasts of games at more reasonable waking hours in the US throughout the week. In addition to regular season games, ESPN has the rights to broadcast KBO postseason games including the Korean Series.

Here is ESPN's schedule for the week (all times ET):


Tuesday, May 26


5:30 a.m. on ESPN2: Samsung Lions vs. Lotte Giants (live)

2 p.m. on ESPN2: Lions vs. Giants (rebroadcast)


Wednesday, May 27


5:30 a.m. on ESPN2: SK Wyverns vs. Doosan Bears (live)

2 p.m. on ESPN2: Wyverns vs. Bears (rebroadcast)


Thursday, May 28


5:30 a.m. on ESPN2: Samsung Lions vs. Lotte Giants (live)

2 p.m. on ESPN2: Lions vs. Giants (rebroadcast)


Friday, May 29


5:30 a.m. on ESPN2: KT Wiz vs. Kiwoom Heroes (live)

2 p.m. on ESPN2: Wiz vs. Heroes (rebroadcast)


Saturday, May 30


4 a.m. on ESPN: KT Wiz vs. Kiwoom Heroes (live)


Sunday, May 31


1 a.m. on ESPN: Lotte Giants vs. Doosan Bears (live)

You'll hear familiar ESPN voices calling the games. Karl Ravech and Eduardo Pérez will call games along with Jon Sciambi, Jessica Mendoza and Kyle Peterson. ESPN announcers will call the games remotely from their own homes.




⚾️Here we go. ESPN's deal with the KBO League is complete and Opening Day is tonight after midnight live at 1am ET (technically Tuesday).