Sports Betting Recap: KBO’s Opening Day On ESPN

• ESPN will televise six live Korean Baseball Organization games per week.
• The KBO’s opening day was on Tuesday but the next games can be watched on ESPN at 1 a.m. ET.
• ESPN will have exclusive English-language rights for games and highlights for the 2020 season.

BRISTOL, Conn. — Live sports have come to cable television in the United States as ESPN will air the 2020 Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) games after the sports network reached an agreement with Eclat Media Group.

The KBO is South Korea’s most popular sports league and this agreement will bring sports programming to ESPN at a time where many of the mainstream American sports are still postponed due to the coronavirus.

“We’re thrilled to become the exclusive English-language home to the KBO League and to showcase its compelling action and high-level of competition,” said Burke Magnus, ESPN’s executive vice president of programming. “We have a long-standing history of documenting the game of baseball and we’re excited to deliver these live events to sports fans.” *

ESPN will broadcast six KBO games a week and some of the top ESPN baseball analysts will be on hand to provide insight on the league.

“The KBO League is one of the greatest baseball leagues with world-class players and many exciting initiatives. During this unprecedented and difficult time, I hope the KBO League can bring consolation to the communities and provide guidelines to the world of sports. I am pleased that the KBO League can be introduced globally and hope this can be an opportunity for the development of our league and the sport.”

Since ESPN has announced the airing of the games, legal sports betting sites have followed suit and posted odds on the opening day games in the KBO. Since it was many Americans first time betting on Korean baseball, their bets may have felt like they were more up to chance.

However, the results from Opening Day could help bettors in placing their wagers for the next set of games. Some teams showed superiority over others, showing that they are a great bet next time around. The odds work similarly to betting on the MLB so the only real learning curve is remembering the team’s names.

KBO Opening Day Betting Recap

The defending KBO champion Doosan Bears dropped their first game to the LG Twins 8-2.

For this game, the total went over the eight-point mark set at sportsbooks while the LG Twins covered the 1 point spread comfortably. Betting on the LG Twins money line gave bettors a nice profit as they were listed as the underdog with +115 odds.

The NC Dinos beat the Samsung Lions 4-0.

Baseball is back. Bat flips are back. #KBO pic.twitter.com/g90AlrvSf3

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 5, 2020

This matchup saw the 8.5-point total go Under. The NC Dinos did cover the one point spread comfortably. The Dinos were favored to win as their money line odds were listed at -165.

The Lotte Giants beat KT Wiz 7-2.

The Lotte Giants pulled off the upset of the KT Wiz as they covered the one-point spread, and hit on their +115 money line odds. The nine-point total was a push for this matchup

The Kiwoom Heroes beat the KIA Tigers 11-2.

The Kiwoom Heroes won big over the KIA Tigers as they scored the most points by any team on Opening Day. That scoring output sent the eight-point total Over. Kiwoom was favored in this matchup as they held -140 money line odds.

The Hanwha Eagles beat the SK Wyverns 3-0.

Hanwha came out on top as the underdog with +105 odds to beat SK Wyverns. They also covered the +1 run line odds with their upset victory. The eight-point total set for the matchup went Under as Hanwha scored the only points in the game.

These matchups will stay the same on Day 2 of the KBO season which begins at 5:30 a.m. EST on Wednesday.

News tags: Burke Mangus | Coronavirus | Doosan Bears | Eclat Media Group | ESPN | KIA Tigers | Kiwoom Hereos | Kiwoom Tigers | Korea Baseball Organization | KT Wiz Suwon | LG Twins | Lotte Giants | Samsung Lions | South Korea