The Korean baseball league is bringing live sports back to ESPN — here's how to watch the KBO League

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The Korean baseball league is bringing live sports back to ESPN — here's how to watch the KBO League
Live sports have made their return to American television. Baseball fans, welcome to South Korea's KBO League.Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
  • Live sports have returned to ESPN.
  • ESPN reached a deal with South Korea's KBO League to broadcast one live baseball game a day as the league opens its season.
  • While American fans might be unfamiliar with the KBO League, baseball is baseball. If you're up for some late nights and early mornings, you can watch games play out live as they happen.
  • For fans keeping more regular hours, ESPN is replaying the games during the day.
  • Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
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Live sports have officially returned to ESPN.

For weeks, live sports have been absent from the available viewing options on ESPN, with replays of classic games, the network's Michael Jordan docuseries "The Last Dance," and the NFL's first virtual draft taking the place of regularly scheduled games due to the coronavirus pandemic.

But in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, the Korea Baseball Organization celebrated Opening Day in South Korea. Like many leagues around the world, the KBO was forced to push back the start of its season due to the ongoing pandemic. But the season is now in full swing, with games played six days a week.

While it might not be the teams and players baseball fans are used to watching as spring edges into summer, the league features some former MLB players fans might remember, as well as a swath of Korean players who could later make the jump to American baseball. And given how long it has been since we've had the pleasure of watching live sports, who are we to look a gift horse in the mouth?

After working out a deal with the KBO, ESPN will be producing six English-language broadcasts per week, airing on ESPN2 at 5:30 a.m. ET on weekdays, and 4 a.m. ET on Saturdays, and 1 a.m. ET on Sundays.

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For those looking to get their baseball fix but unable to stay up into the late hours of the night to watch the league, ESPN will be rebroadcasting the games during the daytime hours. ESPN's Jeff Passan tweeted out the first week's worth of KBO action.

The KBO might be best known to American audiences for its bombastic bat flips, which should be a hit with most new fans tuning in stateside.

Early Tuesday morning, we got our first taste, after Mo Chang-min of the NC Dinos teed off as the second half of back-to-back home run stretch along with teammate Park Sok-min to stretch the team's lead to 4-0.

While American sports fans might still be waiting for a while before their favorite leagues return to action, the KBO should provide a nice bit of comfort for fans, and even introduce them to another pro league they could come to love in time.

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