KBO Advances Professional Baseball Players' Active Participation Period to Jan. 25

Starting January 1, 2027, the period during which professional baseball players receive their salaries—known as the active participation period—will change.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) introduced the revised bylaws confirmed at its board meeting on October 7, today (October 8).

The board decided to adjust the players' active participation period, currently stipulated as running from February 1 to November 30 each year, to January 25 through November 23.


Taking into consideration that the 10 professional clubs have already started training and departing for overseas spring camps from January 25 rather than February 1 as stipulated in the rules since last year, the KBO decided to advance the active participation period under the bylaws and player contracts (including foreign player contracts) to January 25 – November 23. Consequently, related administrative schedules linked to this, such as the inactive period, reserve period, arbitration applications, and the submission of registered and reserved player lists, will also be moved up by a week.

In addition, the board revised the bylaws to require that when a player participates in a game outside of the active participation period, they must submit a written document to their club detailing the purpose of the game, its objective, and measures in case of injury, obtain approval seven days in advance, and notify the KBO.

A KBO official explained, "Since there were players participating in off-season event games without club approval, the 10 clubs reached a consensus earlier this season that it would be appropriate to establish a procedure to obtain the club's permission."

Furthermore, if a player wishes to engage in commercial activities such as broadcast appearances or advertisements, regardless of whether it is during the active participation period, they must submit a written document detailing the purpose and intent to their club and obtain approval from the club at least seven days prior to the scheduled commercial activity.

Reporting to the board its goals to continuously strengthen the international competitiveness of South Korean baseball—targeting a victory at the 2027 WBSC Premier12, a medal at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, and a top-8 finish in the World Baseball Classic (WBC)—the KBO announced plans to step-by-step pursue measures aligned with international standards, such as introducing extra-inning tiebreakers, adjusting the pitch clock, improving Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS) settings, and relaxing restrictions on foreign player retention.

(Photo: Provided by Yonhap News TV, provided by the KBO Secretariat, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.