PM: You’re looking exhausted.
SA: *yawnnn* It was a long night.
PM: Watching the games?
SA: Yes but not the Korean games. My team’s been on an east coast swing and all the games start at 3AM instead of the usual 10AM.
PM: Yeah, I feel bad for those who support Eastern conference teams from Korea. Well, OK actually I don’t. Haha, suckers! Only root for west coast teams!
SA: *yawwnnn* you may have a point here. I feel like we’re sacrificing sleep for live coverage.
PM: You remember the story of the foreigner who stayed up all night watching NFL games, then went to teach kindy and fell asleep at nap time, then the kids painted his face to look like the Joker?
SA: Oh yeah, I remember that! That won’t be me!
Homeland teams
PM: So, let’s go over it again. Mr S, you support…
SA: The San Francisco Giants, San Jose Sharks, Golden State Warriors…
PM: Gee, I wonder which part of the United States you’re from…
SA: I know, right?
PM: Any other teams of note?
SA: I sometimes follow the Minnesota Lynx and whatever minor league team my cousins are playing for.
PM: As for me, I root for the Calgary Flames, Norwich City FC, Calgary Stampeders and if they ever return, the Seattle Supersonics..
SA: No one in the MLB?
PM: Montreal Expos if they ever return. No one else really though.
SA: NFL? You sure wear the hell out of that Seahawks cap you have.
PM: True. Probably them but I’m not all that invested.
SA: Just the 35 bucks you invested in that cap?
PM: 44 actually. Canadian dollar baby! So, even though there are ways of watching our teams, do you feel as tied to them now as you did back when you still lived over there?
SA: No, not as much.
PM: Our buddy from Michigan has admitted to me that his devotion to the Red Wings has faded since he’s been over here. He once worshiped Pavel Datsyuk, but more recently he didn’t give a shit when he got inducted into the Hall of Fame.
SA: We used to work with a guy who bought the NFL pack and would watch games in the office. Of course, I did the same thing with baseball or basketball. We all know someone who would be sad they couldn’t attend a match because they were here.
PM: Speaking of which, didn’t you tell me once about the mis-matched NFL sweatshirt one of our students wore one winter day?
SA: That’s right! We should’ve talked about it on the swag episode. OK, so one day I’m walking to Nonghyup when I saw a student walking past me and I had to stop because the shirt had the most mixed up design ever! There was a Minnesota Vikings symbol and colors with the words Green Bay Packers written on it. I asked the student where she got it but she refused to tell me. If I got one I would’ve sent it to either the Green Bay Times or the Minneapolis Star Tribune sports departments just to see what they would do.
PM: I bet at least one of them would’ve called for war. It makes me wonder what other unlikely team mash ups are out there. A green Celtics shirt with LA Lakers printed on it? The Arsenal logo mixed with the words Tottenham Hotspur?
SA: Listeners, let us know if you spot any similar bizarre hybrids!
Websites
PM: If you haven’t come to Korea yet, it’s fairly obvious to say that all your favorite sports websites work in South Korea - and not even just on Internet Explorer anymore! Not North Korea though.
SA: Even the annoying ones work here. It should be noted that Korean newspapers cover international sports but only in brief bits and especially if there are Korean heritage players on the teams. You see a lot of Dodgers swag around Korea because of Ryu Hyung Jin and Park Chan Ho playing there for a while. You don’t see as much Arizona merch these days even though Kim Byung-hyun won the world series with them.
PM: If you get a cable plan, you’ll quickly notice the local channels will run highlights of Son Heung Min basically on a loop in lieu of actual games. But lately, if you want to see live games, streaming sites like CoupangPlay carry EPL, NFL and other leagues with Korean commentary. Pretty useful for parties and practicing your Korean, though they speak a bit fast.
SA: So we’ll go over a few plans to see if they work in Korea. First up is the NFL. If you want English commentary, search for NFL game pass and it will route to DAZN which will give you the 3 plans they support. It’s pricey at 43K a month, but there are weekly plans at 22k a month, which isn’t much better for a weekly game if you ask me.
PM: If you register you get game highlights for free, but you can see those on Youtube anyway.
SA: I would register just so I don’t have to think about it when I want to sign up in the future. But I’m not an NFL fan these days, so I haven’t signed up yet.
PM: So why are you always watching Dallas Cowboys fan channels?
SA: Because it’s fun watching them destroy their TVs and yell at the camera in rage because their whole organization pumped their hopes up like the Roswell weather balloon. Those of us who had to deal with obnoxious Cowboys fans since the 90s will understand.
PM: So onto the NHL. Since we’re out of North America, the only legal way to watch live is through the NHL dot TV website. They have a few packages but expect to spend 99 dollars for the season pack or plan to pay 15 dollars a month. They don’t seem as picky as Netflix when it comes to other devices, so you might be better off teaming up with a friend and sharing a package.
SA: Next up is the MLB dot TV plans. As of this writing, I don’t think the site’s posted the 2025 season plans yet, but 2024’s price was 149 dollars for the whole year but you can get single-team plans for over 30 dollars a month. And if you only care about the playoffs, they’re for 29 dollars. They also have a radio only plan which I had at one point for 7 dollars a month.
PM: Radio only? What good is that?
SA: The Giants had Jon Miller as their voice so it’s worth it. Also, they play most of their games in the daytime out here so I don’t have much need for a streaming plan when I’m outside at game time. Unless it’s summer, then I’m inside on my computer until nightfall.
PM: Baseball is a very radio friendly sport compared to others.
SA: I’ve heard hockey games on the radio before as well as basketball. I’ve never been a fan of listening to American football or soccer on the radio. Those are better on TV in my opinion.
PM: The next pack is the NBA League Pass. The WNBA has its own pass as well and both work in Korea. It’s super pricey at 188k for the whole season without commercials and 129k with commercials. If you only want to watch 1 team, you can get a team pack for 115k and you can bet it’s got commercials. Which is half the ballgame to be honest.
SA: I bet if you signed up in October, the bulk of those ads would be political attack ads.
PM: You’d want to throw your remote through the TV at that point.
SA: I’d cancel the plan, even if I liked the ads. You get real sick of hearing the same ad 20 times in one game.
PM: Like those 1-877 Cars 4 Kids donations ads!
SA: Those made me drop MLB radio and go to Youtube streamers. I’d rather have incorrect commentary from a noob than irritating commentary and that jingle stuck in my head.
PM: Now I’m curious; do the sports radio broadcasts here play those same ads?
SA: Beats me. I don’t even think they cover sports on the radio anymore. Anyway, the next pack is the MLS pack, which you can get for free with Apple TV around playoffs time. Otherwise, you pay $14.99 a month or cheaper as you get near the playoffs.
PM: The NWSL is free! You just go to plus dot nwsl soccer dot com and you can watch all the games there. Just the way we like it!
SA: Here’s something you’re not going to like. If you wanna watch English premier league, then you’ve got a problem. Their streaming site goes through SPOTVNow and that means you’d need a membership. For the premium plan that’s 19k a month and 9k for the basic. However for the basic plan the quality isn’t as good. I also have no idea if they let you switch between English and Korean commentary.
PM: So basically you’re gambling on whether or not you’ll be able to watch the game in the language of your choice. Fun times.
SA: Well, there is a way around that. A…(deep voice) darker way.
The Darker Way
PM: What rabbit hole are you leading us down this time, Mr. S?
SA: Well, if you don’t want to pay for a subscription plan, or if you want an English feed, there are a few ways to get around that problem. Now I can go into a few details but I can’t say too many so we don’t get kicked off the air.
PM: Oh yeah, you’re well-known for finding ways round the law.
SA: We’re going to beennnnnnd the rules a little bit here. Some things I can help you with, like dealing with US sports. But I don’t watch EPL or any of the European football leagues. However, there are ways to get those games as well. You just have to be…clever. (play spy theme music) The first way is a US-centric method but it might work elsewhere. If you still have a cable plan, or if your relatives or friends do, you can borrow their cable login and watch their ESPN or other sports plan. US cable networks let you do this.
PM: But what about IP issues? Don’t they block overseas viewing?
SA: Some do, sort of. The way around that is to use a VPN that connects to the closest major city where your family member lives. Before you invest in a VPN, check to make sure it has servers in the region you need to pretend to be in. This trick also works for radio broadcasts as well. They’re less picky than netflix. I use IPVanish because it has servers where my friends live. But if you live near a small city like Jackson Mississippi, it’s gonna be hard to find a VPN that covers you. They’re out there, though. I recommend going for a free trial and testing it out before you commit to a subscription. At any rate, it’ll fool the streamer into thinking you’re there and not here in Korea.
PM: So after you get a VPN but it doesn’t work. What’s your next play?
SA: The next method is a bit riskier, so you’ll need a very good antivirus package before you start tangling with the dark side of the internet.
PM: You want us to wrap the computer or tablet in a condom or something? *joke sting*
SA: You should be doing that already! But basically you need something that can stop your browser from going to an infected website, otherwise your computer won’t be your computer anymore. I’m talking something with a firewall like Bitdefender or Norton or even Avira. Windows Defender probably ain’t gonna be enough.
PM: And that’ll cost you over 100 bucks a year. This is not the path for the cheap, let me tell you.
SA: Once you’ve got your system relatively locked down, you can test out the bootleg streaming sites. Now, for legal reasons, we can’t tell you exactly which streaming sites are out there that show bootleg streams. BUT…
PM: But…what? Are you saying we have to follow the law?
SA: But… we can tell you which sites host links to the streaming sites! Because technically, they are not the illegal streamer!
PM: A legal loophole! The Hwa-Ting Sports Podcast bread & butter!
SA: Precisely! There are many streaming aggregators but only a few are worth your time. My favorite is sportsurge dot net. When you click on a game you get a bunch of different streamers when you can click on. Some are more stable and less dangerous than others. Some have ads, which can be annoying. Another one that I’ve heard of is buffstreams dot app. Their lists get released an hour before kickoff. Other bootleg sites abound, like the various batmanstream knockoffs that still use flash. You’re more likely to find not well-covered sports there.
PM: Like the Olympic games that SBS Sports doesn’t cover!
SA: Indeed, as long as you’ve got a third language skill like Russian or Bengali.
PM: And what if those sites don’t work or don’t have your game?
SA: Now you’ve got a problem. Then you gotta turn to the Acestream method, and I haven’t used that system in years so I have no idea if it still works. My best advice is to check reddit for other links and IPTV info.
PM: That way leads you down a dark path, so pirate safely!
SA: There’s a lazy way but it doesn’t always work. Your friends at home can load up zoom or skype or something and stream the game to you either with the screenshare on or by aiming the camera at the TV screen. It’ll be clunky but it works.
PM: At that point you’re watching blurry polygons move on the screen but you at least can chat with your friends. But now you’re pointing out another problem.
SA: Some of the league pass websites and the streaming sites don’t use your local time. They use the location time or a general time. So you need to be sure the game is happening when you think it is.
PM: That’s pretty important! (end spy.thriller music)
Music transition
SA: The solution to the dilemma is pretty obvious- get a time zone calculator!
PM: Why can’t our relatives back home figure this out?
SA: I know! They are literally part of the clock app these days! All you need to do is add the time zone, and move the slider to match the time you want to call someone to see what time it’ll be there.
PM: We’re not living in the dark ages pre-2009 anymore.
SA: If you can’t get the clock on your phone to work, I recommend the meeting planner at timeanddate dot com because you can add multiple clocks to the search, giving you an easy view if you’ve got to coordinate 3 or more time zones. Just remember to make sure which column is your time, so you don’t set your alarm clock wrong.
PM: Is this from personal experience?
SA: Mr. P, I’m the one yelling at you about time! I’m the one that forgets things, you’re the one that forgets to plan things.
Betting websites streaming
PM: Ready to make a bet, Mr. S?
SA: Sure! Let’s bet that I can go on a betting site without immediately gambling away my life savings!
PM: Speaking of which, why haven’t we gotten any sports betting companies to sponsor us yet?
SA: Wait another 5 episodes. I’m sure one will throw sponsorship money at us in due time. Anyway, some of the betting sites like Bet365 have streaming of many games. It’s an option if you’re willing to at least put some money into a betting site. Ooh, the site loaded…
PM: But there’s a problem- does Korea allow online gambling? Mr. S?
SA: Uh…what?
PM: You’re supposed to---- wait are you betting right now?!
SA: Look, I’m telling you! I’m putting 10 grand on the over bet on Bronny James! He’s due!
PM: Mrs. S or Ms K, stop him! (Whip sound)
SA: AAHHH!~
PM: You couldn’t even make it through the segment! But anyhooooo, what about the laws? Is it allowed or not?
SA: No, but it seems like they only really enforce the gambling laws against Korean nationals. They don’t care if we become inveterate gamblers. Lately there have been crackdowns because middle schoolers got addicted to online betting sites and so I suspect the government firewall operators will need to start adding those bet365 style sites to their block list.
PM: Another reason why you should get a VPN. And a word from our newest VPN sponsor (crickets sound). Huh…they haven’t thrown money at us yet either.
SA: We’re too rugged and raw for the average sponsor. Which is hilarious because we don’t even curse that much.
Distance
PM: We’ve mostly been discussing streaming and fan packs and all that shit but there’s another issue that requires addressing.
SA: Which is?
PM: Fallout: How distance and time can lead us away from our favourite clubs. I already mentioned our buddy from Michigan who has admitted to us that his support for Detroit teams has waned over the years. Except for the Pistons.
SA: How did he manage that?
PM: He never liked them to begin with - and who can blame him?
SA: Indeed.
PM: If you’re like me and you don’t really bother with streaming and you’ve never had a fan pack then maintaining interest in favourite teams can be challenging. But as with most things in life, there is an upside!
SA: Which is?
PM: When my teams suck, it’s really no big deal. As a lifelong Flames fan, it’s something that’s come in handy!.
SA: As a Sharks fan, I’m right there with you bud.
PM: I once thought that I was cursed to always being elsewhere whenever Calgary went on a run. The one time they won the Stanley Cup, I was living in England. The last time they went to a Cup final, I was in Indonesia.
SA: But they haven’t done squat since you’ve been over here.
PM: Well, I wouldn’t say squat but not a whole lot, no. So, back in 2004, I left for Indonesia just as the playoffs were to begin. In fact, one of the last things I did was to go to a Flames-Kings game. I sat next to the head of their fanclub on the Calgary-LA stretch on my flight. A good story for another time. I never thought for a second that I’d be missing something special by leaving when I did. I was ecstatic when they eliminated Vancouver in the first round but my feelings changed once they’d dispatched Detroit in the second. I began feeling resentful.
SA: How come?
PM: Well, I was a loyal fan through some really lean years and then they had the nerve to go on a memorable run the second I left town. All these people back home who’d never dare watch hockey suddenly got into it and I was left out. What about you? Have you ever felt a sense of alienation?
SA: Not really. My family’s not really into sports, but my college fans are obsessed with the Saints and LSU Tigers. So we have a gap in things to talk about because I don’t follow those teams. We found a compromise with our alma-mater. That’s an easy team to root for but hard to follow because they’re not on TV that often.
PM: One way to avoid falling out of love with that favourite team of yours isn’t to cultivate like-minded individuals…
SA: It isn’t???
PM: Well, it could be but I wouldn’t know because I don’t know any other Flames fans. No, my solution is to be friends with people who hate or are at least indifferent to your team. Mr. S here wouldn’t root for Calgary if he was drawn and quartered.
SA: I wouldn’t go quite that far but yeah you’re mostly correct.
PM: And the same goes for all of my hockey loving buddies here in Korea. They don’t like the Flames which makes me maintain my otherwise wavering loyalty.
SA: Hmmm, you might be onto something there.
Snacks at home
PM: Since this segment is short and it involves streaming, you’re going to want some snacks while you watch the game! And we’re going to talk about some of our favorites!
SA: This is a perfect time to talk about our cooking for dimwits mediocre meal delivery, insert recorded ad here (crickets) Damn! It didn’t work!
PM: Thanks to the magic slash slavery conditions of delivery apps here, you can get practically any snack or meal you want for the game delivered to your door! There are many delivery apps but not every restaurant is associated with everyone. So be prepared to have multiples on your phone.
SA: I have a really good kitchen so I like to make popcorn on the stove. I can season it anyway I want and I have enough big bowls to share with others.
PM: I like to make popcorn too and if I’m in one of my healthy moods, air fryer chickpeas. Our air fryer recently died on us though.
SA: Got too old?
PM: It hasn’t been quite the same ever since the wife put its basket in the dishwasher. Actually we were lucky that it ever worked at all after that. In any case, deep down, I’m a cheese and crackers kind of guy.
SA: A lot of Koreans seem to like eating fried chicken, chamwei melons, jokbal pig feet, boiled pork, and samgyepsal while watching the game at home. These are all easily shared foods so one big plate of it covers like 5 people easily.
PM: And of course, you’ve got your soju, makkori, and the 4 beers for 12 thousand won sets you can get at convenience stores. Multiple bottles of soju if you’re an Eagles fan.
SA: Which one? Here or in another country?
PM: Know you a Hanwha Eagles fan?
SA: Hmmm…no not really.
PM: I knew one once. Poor bastard. No, Hanwha fans need plenty of soju.
SA: They say depression drives people to the bottle, don’t they?
Ending
SA: Thanks for tuning in today! We hoped you learned something new about Korean sports!
PM: I certainly did! Please share this podcast with your friends & family, anyone you think would be interested in irreverent takes on Korean Sports.
SA: Especially give this to rookies. They need alllll the help they can get.
PM: Don’t forget to rate our podcast 5 stars of course. But don’t do it if you don’t like us.
SA: You can email the show at hwatingsportspodcast at gmail.com or leave a comment on our various podcast sites. Hate mail will be read aloud on special episodes and ruthlessly mocked.
PM: Fan mail will be mocked but in a more wholesome way.
SA: Music notes like the opening song thanks to DumiAFava. Cover art thanks to our live-in cycling expert James! Until next time, Korean sports fans!
PM: Guests of the Hwa-ting sports podcast dine at Kang’s Raw Buffet 식당, South Korea’s #1 chain for all things raw meat. Enjoy uncooked cuts of beef, pork, chicken, horse, and seafood and other unidentifiable creatures and watch your sexual prowess grow, commensurate with all that extra bacteria in your body. Finish our 64oz variety platter and we’ll provide you with complimentary transportation to the local hospital. Come along to Kang’s: the meat may not be cooked but your body sure will be!