By Hunhee Cho

The KBO League has ten professional teams, but every fan recognizes an unofficial 11th team: the Strongest Monsters (now the Blazing Fighters). The Monsters first appeared on JTBC’s variety show Strongest Baseball (known to Americans as A Clean Sweep, and currently airing on Netflix). The premise was simple: retired players who had once excelled in the KBO form a team and compete against high school, university, and minor league teams. If they fail to maintain a winning percentage above .700 for the season, the program ends. The logline was straightforward, but the results were surprising.

Strongest Baseball Shakes Up the Game in Korea

TV shows where retired players form a team and play baseball have existed before, with Back to the Ground on MBN as a prime example. But those programs stopped at simply evoking nostalgia for legendary players. Strongest Baseball went a step further, setting a .700 winning-percentage target and giving viewers a clear reason to cheer for the team as if it were a real professional club.

Strongest Baseball rewrote the playbook for Korean baseball entertainment. On game days, Jamsil Baseball Stadium – the largest in Korea, with over 20,000 seats – was sold out. Like a pro team, the Monsters had their own fight songs and sold jerseys. 

Above all, the true value of Strongest Baseball lies in how it sparked the popularity of the KBO League. By adopting a variety show format that anyone could enjoy without pressure, it allowed viewers to naturally learn the rules of baseball. As a result, it broke down one of professional baseball’s biggest entry barriers: its complicated rules. The Strongest Monsters also faced high school teams, introducing promising young players to the audience. Fans who had supported these prospects continued to follow them into the KBO once they were drafted. From 2022 to 2024, the years during which Strongest Baseball aired, KBO League’s annual attendance rose from 6.07 million to 8.10 million to 10.88 million. In boosting the league’s popularity, Strongest Baseball clearly served as a catalyst.

The future seemed bright, but that expectation fell apart. The Strongest Monsters roster now plays under the name Blazing Fighters, and the show’s title has changed from Strongest Baseball to Blazing Baseball. Meanwhile, the show Strongest Baseball remains, with a new roster preparing for broadcast. So, what happened in between?

The Conflict Between JTBC and Studio C1

The split into two programs began with a dispute between the broadcaster and the production company. The original Strongest Baseball was produced by Studio C1 and aired by JTBC. Each season began with open tryouts, and season four was no exception – until February 2025, just weeks before tryouts, when JTBC abruptly announced their cancellation.

Studio C1 quickly countered, stating that tryouts would proceed as planned. Indeed, they did, but the incident brought the JTBC–C1 conflict into the open. The next flashpoint was production costs: JTBC accused C1 of overbilling and withholding financial records and announced it would replace the production company.

C1 fired back, claiming JTBC had withheld live game revenue for two years without disclosing the amounts. They also declared they would continue producing the program independently. The dispute escalated into lawsuits, which are still ongoing.

From Strongest Monsters to Blazing Fighters

Fans’ attention shifted to the players – whichever side retained the Monsters’ core identity would inherit its fanbase. The winner was C1. Except for Sim Soo-chang and Oh Ju-won, the entire roster sided with C1. With the players’ backing, CEO Jang Si-won quickly began production on a new show, rebranding Strongest Baseball as Blazing Baseball and renaming the team Blazing Fighters.

Challenges persisted after the Fighters’ debut. When C1 uploaded Blazing Baseball episodes to YouTube, JTBC filed complaints, leading to repeated takedowns. The turning point came from business deals: despite legal risks, the Fighters signed a home stadium contract with the city of Daejeon, secured a uniform deal with Wilson, and sold patch ads to sponsors including Kakao Pay Securities.

C1’s biggest win was landing a live broadcast contract with SBS Plus, a major terrestrial channel. Now, for the first time, a baseball variety show streamed games like a professional team. To top it off, C1 launched its own platform, where fans could watch Blazing Baseball without fear of takedowns. While it has generated less buzz than seasons 1-3 (because those streamed on Netflix), Blazing Baseball still sells out Gocheok Sky Dome tickets in just five minutes.

The Trials of Strongest Baseball

Meanwhile, Strongest Baseball has faced headwinds before even airing. Only two players from the original Monsters stayed with the JTBC version. JTBC quickly filled the roster with other retired players, but a bigger issue arose when hiring a new manager.In late June, JTBC announced Lee Jong-beom, a coach for kt wiz, as the new Strongest Baseball manager – right in the middle of the KBO season. With kt in a tight pennant race, the loss of a coach angered the team’s fans, who directed their frustration at both Lee and JTBC. Lee explained that he accepted the job because he believed “reviving Strongest Baseball will greatly advance Korean baseball,” but public opinion remained cold. Already criticized by the original fanbase, the show now lost neutral viewers as well.

Strongest Baseball is slated to premiere in September, but its teaser videos are filled with more comments supporting Blazing Baseball and criticizing JTBC.

So now the question is, will Blazing Baseball keep its old fanbase and remain on top? Or will Strongest Baseball use JTBC’s corporate power to turn the tide? Whether JTBC or C1 ultimately prevails, one fact remains: this is a turning point in Korean baseball entertainment as well as the growing popularity of the game in Korea. 

How this saga ends could have a massive impact on whether Korean baseball continues its shocking rise and the way it will be seen on the international stage for years to come.