Sources: ESPN Wants Free Broadcast Rights To Korean Baseball League

ESPN wants to "acquire rights to Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) games for free from Eclat," which owns the international rights, leading to a "stalemate in its negotiations" with the Seoul-based network, according to sources cited by Yoo & Ha of YONHAP. Sources said that ESPN first indicated interest in KBO games, which begin on May 5, "earlier this month," as the network "struggles to fill dead air." One source said that it "costs a fair amount of money to produce a separate feed for the international audience and transmit it to the U.S. via satellite, and Eclat wasn't willing to do all the work and give the feed to ESPN for free." The source added that ESPN "offered to first start airing KBO games and then pay Eclat later if it made some profit from advertising or corporate sponsorship deals, but the South Korean company did not accept that." Another source said that ESPN "sought to do monthly deals with Eclat, rather than a longer deal that would cover" the whole '20 season (YONHAP, 4/23).