치솟는 한국 프로스포츠 중계권 인기<br /><br />With sports fans around the world crying out for some live action to watch amid this pandemic,... a number of countries have purchased broadcasting rights to South Korea's K-League.<br />U.S. sports media giant, ESPN is also working on a deal to broadcast Korean baseball games over in the U.S.<br />Lee Seung-jae reports.<br />COVID-19 has brought the sporting world to a shuddering halt.<br />Football fans, often cooped up at home under lockdown, are starved of being able to watch their favorite players and teams compete.<br />It is an especially big blow for European football fans,... where the suspended English Premier League,... Spain's La Liga,... and Germany's Bundesliga draw in hundreds of millions of viewers each and every week.<br />Across the Atlantic, Major League Baseball has been put on hold,... as the U.S. remains the global hotspot for the virus.<br />But now,... sports fans will be able get their adrenaline fix through Korean leagues.<br />With the top-flight K-League 1 and second-tier K-League 2 beginning their football season on May 8th,... the league announced on Monday that it has sold broadcasting rights to ten countries so far this year,... mostly in Asia and Europe.<br />The league added that TV stations and digital platforms in Germany, France, Italy, Australia and the U.S. have inquired about purchasing K-League rights as well.<br />According to Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency on Monday,... U.S. sports media giant ESPN is closing in on a deal to broadcast South Korean baseball games to its American audience this season,... as the KBO is set to start their season on May 5th.<br />Citing an anonymous source,... the report said ESPN could air multiple KBO games a week,... but the duration of the deal and the proposed financial terms weren't immediately clear.<br />With both domestic football and baseball games being aired overseas,... it'll be a win-win situation for the South Korean leagues due to the international exposure it will bring and for fans in the countries that will air the games live.<br />At the same time,... it'll be a ray of hope for the world.<br />It will show that the virus can be overcome and things will eventually return to normal.<br />Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.<br />
