A recent inquiry a self-employed person made to the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) on social media drew attention. The person asked whether a separate expense must be paid when playing baseball broadcasts in a restaurant or hof.
The KBO said a public screening fee of 3 million won per game and 100 million won for the full season must be paid. The self-employed person, who did not know public screening fees existed, said, "I worry this could turn me into a potential criminal."
◇ "3.3 million won per baseball game"… Self-employed say the burden is heavy
The "public screening right" required to play pro baseball broadcasts in stores is under scrutiny. Self-employed people are pushing back, saying the price is excessively high. The gap was large even compared with other domestic pro sports and overseas examples.
According to the KBO on the 7th, in principle, when games are shown in general restaurants, hofs, and sports pubs, a separate rights expense must be paid. This is because the KBO and its marketing subsidiary KBOP hold the game video copyrights.
A KBO official said, "When inquiries come in by phone or email, we conduct an internal review case by case and guide them through the procedures." However, there is no separate enforcement for stores that have not purchased public screening rights.
The problem is the expense. After inquiring for an estimate on the condition of installing a TV or screen in a 66-square-meter restaurant, the public screening right for one game a day was 3.3 million won including VAT. If all five games broadcast in a day are shown, it costs 16.5 million won.
A public screening right that allows all teams' regular-season games to be shown costs 110 million won including VAT. The postseason requires an additional 30.8 million won. To show pro baseball games in a store for one season, the total burden comes to 140.8 million won.
Self-employed people said the amount is practically unaffordable. A person surnamed Shin (32), who runs a sports pub in Seoul, said, "It's hard to understand how they calculated the price of the public screening right," adding, "Honestly, how many shops make more than 100 million won in net profit a year."
A person surnamed Lim (46), who runs a barbecue restaurant in Bupyeong District, Incheon, also said, "Even if I rent out the shop for a day to a group, it's hard to clear 3 million won," adding, "The price is ridiculously high."
◇ Overseas, it's in the tens of thousands of won per month… Prices should be made realistic
The public screening right system is hard to find in other pro sports. Among the four major pro sports leagues, soccer (K League), basketball (KBL), and volleyball (KOVO) do not have a separate public screening right system. Restaurants and the like can play broadcasts without a separate expense.
It also contrasts with overseas pro baseball. Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in Japan do not sell public screening rights directly as leagues. Instead, platform operators such as DIRECTV and DAZN provide commercial broadcast services. By analogy to Korea, over-the-top (OTT) operators like Tving, not the KBO, would distribute public screening rights.
In MLB's case, the price for commercial broadcast service starts at $120–$150 per month (about 180,000–225,800 won). In NPB as well, depending on store size and number of users, paying only 10,000–20,000 yen per month (about 94,300–188,600 won) allows stores to play pro baseball broadcasts.
By contrast, if the KBO regular-season broadcast right (110 million won) is divided over about seven months, it is 15.71 million won per month. That is about 80 times more expensive than the monthly broadcast expense in the United States and Japan.
People on the ground say there is a wide gap between the rules and reality. Some stores, such as sports pubs, are showing broadcasts through IPTV and the like, but with no enforcement in place, questions remain about effectiveness.
Self-employed people say, "If it's a rule that no one follows, it should be abolished or adjusted to fit reality." A hof owner in Dongjak District said, "I would rather have realistic price standards so we can pay the expense legally and play the broadcasts."