Korea Baseball Organization teams are “nearing a breaking point when it comes to their finances.” When the '20 season opened on May 5 without fans, the "initial hope was that teams would be able to open their gates within a month or so." But a recent spike in new COVID-19 cases in Seoul and surrounding regions "forced the KBO and its clubs to shelve any talks of selling tickets." Having fans back in June is "out of the question." Unlike in MLB, there has been "no discussion of a pay cut for players in the KBO." But according to one club official, teams "may have to take drastic measures if the league doesn’t start letting fans in by July." The official said, "Last year, we made about 180 million won (US$147,925) from gates per home game on average, and obviously we've made zero this year." He added that gate receipts "typically account for one-third of his team's revenue." KBO clubs are "owned and operated major corporations such as Samsung, LG, SK and Lotte." Those companies typically "provide grants for their baseball clubs," but they now "may cut down on their grants this year and teams will have to figure out ways to be less dependent on their companies" (YONHAP NEWS, 6/18).
