S Korean baseball league begins in empty stadiums

I think I would rather play to an empty empty stadium than one filled with unmoving pictures of people. That's just creepy. At least SK can start somewhat safely -- they began testing when it was critical, and have an excellent tracking system as a result.

This is great news!

I think I would rather play to an empty empty stadium than one filled with unmoving pictures of people. That's just creepy. 

Unmoving pictures of people are creepy. Unmoving pictures of people wearing masks staring at you are super creepy.

Well at least we can have some sports action start. And yes, it’s because South Korea did all the right things etc., but at least in some part of the world things are starting to get back to normal.

I’m from the US, so I kind of chuckled to myself when I read the part that ESPN would be broadcasting six of those Korean games a week. I can only imagine what the reaction will be from big sports fans here in the US. LOL

Chinese Professional Baseball League in Taiwan has been playing games for a few weeks now.  Very affordable streaming package can be purchased from the CPBL site.  No English announcers though.

yoshisan88: "Unmoving pictures of people wearing masks staring at you are super creepy."

You're right. I didn't even think about the fact that they took the time to have them wearing masks... but maybe that's the point -- it's the norm now and people would be wearing them in the stands if present. Still creepier, though.

JCosplay: "I can only imagine what the reaction will be from big sports fans here in the US. LOL"

Yeah, likely not everyone's (or maybe even anyone's) first choice, but they almost got stuck with having to watch sumo.

The new norm will not be like the old norm.

ESPN is set to televise six regular-season games per week from South Korea’s KBO league

Wow, KBO on national TV in the US. ESPN is really in need of programming they'll go wherever a sport is being played right now

Heck, ESPN is even broadcasting esports, video game car racing, even an online game of basketball H-O-R-S-E, etc.

Although the highest-rated program on ESPN now is the 10-part documentary of Michael Jordan's last season with the Chicago Bulls, introducing Jordan to the new generations who never saw him play live for the first time:

ESPN sets ratings record with debut of Michael Jordan doc ‘The Last Dance’

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2020-04-20/espns-michael-jordan-series-the-last-dance-opens-to-6-1-million-viewers

The opening episodes of ESPN’s much-anticipated 10-part series on NBA legend Michael Jordan were the most-watched documentary programs in the network’s history.

Nielsen data showed the first two hours of the series airing Sunday averaged 6.1 million viewers. The previous record holder, “You Don’t Know Bo,” about baseball and football star Bo Jackson, was watched by 3.6 million viewers in 2012. The audience counts TV viewers only and does not include streaming platforms.

“The Last Dance” ranks as the most-watched telecast among adults ages 18 to 34 and 18 to 49 since sports halted across broadcast and cable networks last month. “The Last Dance” was the number one trending topic Sunday on Twitter and, at one point, 25 of the 30 trending topics were related to the show.

ESPN simulcast “The Last Dance” over two channels, with one version on ESPN 2 presented without the vulgarities used in the candid interviews with Jordan and other participants.

“The Last Dance” uses never-before-seen footage shot by a camera crew embedded with the Chicago Bulls for the 1997-98 NBA championship season — the sixth and final of the team’s stunning 1990s run — to the tell story of Jordan’s extraordinary career.

The highly touted project, directed by Jason Hehir, was scheduled to air in June. But with nearly every live sporting event wiped out by the shutdown rules imposed to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, ESPN moved up the launch date.