With walks aplenty, KBO games taking longer despite pace-of-play rules

With the first full week of play in the books, new rules designed to speed up the game in Korean baseball haven't had their desired effects. After 40 contests into the season played through Sunday, the average game time in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) for a nine-inning affair came to three hours and 12 minutes, 10 minutes longer than last season. Counting extra-inning games, the average game time is 3:14, up from 3:05 in 2025. The Samsung Lions were the only team averaging under three hours per game, at 2:50. The Hanwha Eagles have been taking the longest to finish nine-inning games at 3:30. The KBO has been implementing new rules in recent years to help reduce the game time. The pitch clock was put in place last year, for instance. Since 2025, ties have been declared after 11 innings, not 12. These changes paid immediate dividends last year, as the average game time dropped to its lowest in the 21st century. For 2026, the KBO shaved two seconds off the pitch clock -- 18 seconds with no one on base and 23 seconds with runners aboard. The league also gave first base and second base

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