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ESPN reaches agreement with Korea Baseball Organization to broadcast six games a week

There will be baseball in 2020. ESPN and the Korea Baseball Organization reached a deal that will allow the network to broadcast six games per week from the KBO.

Those broadcasts will reportedly begin Tuesday, as the Samsung Lions will take on the NC Dinos on opening day. The contest will begin at 1 a.m. ET. ESPN will broadcast the KBO playoffs as well as its best-of-seven championship

[A primer on the KBO: How to enjoy one baseball league’s return]

ESPN personalities — including Karl Ravech, Jessica Mendoza, Eduardo Perez, Boog Sciambi and Kyle Peterson — will call the games from their home studios.

Here’s what the first week of broadcasts will look like:

The KBO is hoping to get in a full 144-game season despite games starting six weeks later than usual. Major League Baseball will be watching to see how KBO’s restart goes. MLB is still working on a plan to begin the season. The league stopped spring training and postponed games amid the coronavirus pandemic.

KBO games will take place with no fans in attendance. Umpires will wear masks, and players will have their temperatures taken before they enter the stadium.

The KBO operates a bit differently than MLB. There are only 10 teams in the KBO, and the playoff structure is different. On top of that, you should expect to see plenty of offense. The KBO batting average was .267 in 2019. That number in MLB was .252 last year. The KBO also features plenty of bat flips, so you’ll get some excellent celebrations.

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