The bodies of professional baseball players are adjusted to evening games starting at 6:30 p.m. They start 4 games a week at this time, and their pre-game training routines and biological rhythms are all accustomed to operating in this timeframe. After the games, they have late dinners, causing most players to become night owls during the season.

As a result, many have difficulty with games at 2 p.m. They need to wake up early for training and prepare for the games. The home team players who come to the stadium first for practice are even busier. Games scheduled at 6:30 p.m. on Fridays or 5 p.m. on Saturdays are manageable, but when Saturday games are set at 2 p.m., players feel pressured from the day before.

In the KBO League, Saturday games at 2 p.m. are scheduled when terrestrial television broadcasts are arranged, except during the extreme heat of July and August. Usually, 2 of the 5 games two weeks prior are designated for terrestrial TV broadcasts, and the KBO announces the change of game start time from 5 p.m. to 2 p.m.

As the popularity of professional baseball has significantly increased, terrestrial broadcasters have been scheduling baseball broadcasts at Saturday daytime slots since last year. This indicates an increase in baseball's popularity, which is a positive aspect, and for clubs, it presents an opportunity to aim for advertising effectiveness.

However, the issue is fairness among the teams. Apart from the season opener on March 22, a total of 19 games (including 3 postponed due to rain) are scheduled for Saturday games at 2 p.m. from March 29 to the end of May, but a noticeable imbalance is evident among certain teams.

This season, the popular team Hanwha, along with traditional popular teams KIA and LG, has been scheduled for the highest number of games at 6 each. Following them are Samsung and KT (4 games each), Lotte, Doosan, and Kiwoom (3 games each), SSG (2 games), and NC (1 game). Compared to NC, which has its first Saturday game scheduled at 2 p.m. against Hanwha on the 31st, Hanwha, KIA, and LG have 5 games or more.

Of course, from the perspective of broadcasters who need to generate revenue, they can only arrange games around popular teams that are expected to yield high ratings. This is the right of broadcasters who pay large broadcasting fees and can be perceived as natural from a market logic standpoint. For Hanwha, KIA, and LG, it can be considered the fate of popular teams.

However, as this situation continues to repeat, it is impossible not to hear voices of disappointment from the field. Kim Kyung-moon, the Hanwha manager, noted before the Daejeon Lotte game on the 24th, which was moved to 2 p.m. due to terrestrial broadcasting, "While it is appreciated that we are popular, from a manager's perspective, I wish the players could rest a bit more after night games. I'm concerned about players' fatigue from having too many day games."

In fact, there are players who particularly struggle with day games. Take Hanwha's Ryu Hyun-jin this year; he performed well in 6 night games with a record of 3 wins and 1 loss and an earned run average of 1.98, but he was mediocre in 5 day games with a record of 1 win and 1 loss and an earned run average of 5.25, showing a significant disparity. Considering this, it is not a trivial matter that certain teams are heavily scheduled for Saturday games at 2 p.m. Manager Kim Kyung-moon cautiously raised the issue, stating, "It would be fine if it were done fairly, but I think it’s a bit off that a few teams have so many day games."

The agents behind changing the game start times are the broadcasters and the home team. It has been reported that some teams have requested to push back the Saturday 2 p.m. game scheduling due to the ongoing situation, but from the team perspective, it is a request that cannot be easily refused.

Meanwhile, Hanwha has had its game start time moved up from 5 p.m. to 2 p.m. for the Tuesday game against KT on the 3rd, following the Saturday 2 p.m. game against NC on the 31st. The day is a public holiday for the presidential election, but the change was not due to terrestrial TV broadcasting. The change was made at the request of the Election Commission for smooth management of the counting process near the stadium. Not only in Daejeon but also the LG-NC game in Changwon will be held at 2 p.m. for the same reason. As it's a game played after a Monday rest day, it is expected to be less burdensome than the Saturday 2 p.m. game.

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