Baseball is one of the most popular sports in Korea along with soccer, basketball, and volleyball. KBO, which has been loved from the past to the present, is back. Hyun-jin Ryu, runner-up for the MLB Cy Young Award and a tremendous player in MLB, is back in the KBO. Events such as the MLB Korean Series have heated up the hearts of baseball fans even before the opening. Perhaps because of these various events, the opening games of all clubs have been sold out. The Korean professional baseball league, KBO, began in 1981 and has 10 clubs in various regions. 

 In 2024, KBO has many changes, including rules. The biggest change this season is the introduction of the ABS (Automatic Ball-Strike System), the so-called “robot referee.” Since the start of professional baseball, there has been a steady controversy over ball judgment every year. KBO is the first professional baseball top-tier league in the world to operate an automatic ball judgment system, ABS. ABS is a system in which a camera installed in the stadium tracks a pitch and determines strikes and balls. The umpire, who hears the computer’s decision result through an earphone, officially declares it. If the computer’s decision is not clear due to a technical problem, the umpire decides whether it was a strike or ball. Therefore, all pitchers and batters can be subject to consistent ball judgment under the same conditions. This is expected to help block unnecessary ball judgment controversy between umpires and players. This new method will try to fundamentally prevent disputes related to ball judgment and make the game more fair. It can also ease the psychological burden on umpires and let them focus more on making other decisions. Players are expected to increase their immersion in the game by reducing unnecessary protests and saving game time.

 The second change is the way viewers watch the game. 2024 will be the first time that games are being broadcast by the streaming company TVING. This is a very unfamiliar situation for baseball fans who have watched baseball through Internet portals or smartphones. In particular, there are many fans who have considerable resistance to the fact that it is a paid viewing platform. It also revealed the highlights of the TVING broadcast from the exhibition game. There was a lot of controversy related to this. Problems such as frequent subtitle errors, slow updates, uncomfortable highlights UI, lack of support for player records, and blocking of club videos and secondary processing were controversial. Even the controversy has grown with subtitles and broadcasts that show no common sense regarding baseball.

 This season has begun with many changes. KBO has always been loved. Watching baseball in Korea involves enjoying food and beer at the stadium and singing along to the cheering songs. Moreover, these new changes should make the game more fun. Why don’t you take this opportunity to visit the stadium and cheer for your favorite team?

80th Reporter • CHOI JUN HONG • chloi0058@naver.com