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Ulsan set to join KBO's minor league

Published: 10 Dec. 2025, 13:15 Updated: 10 Dec. 2025, 18:02

NC Dinos players practice at the Munsu Baseball Stadium in Ulsan on May 16, 2025, in this file photo. [YONHAP]

Ulsan will join the minor league in Korean baseball next year.

The KBO announced Wednesday its board of directors has approved Ulsan's entry into the Futures League for the 2026 season. It said it had been in talks with the municipal government of Ulsan over the founding of a baseball club with an eye on increasing the overall competitiveness of the Futures League.

The KBO noted that Ulsan's Futures League club will be the first professional baseball team to be assembled and launched by a local government. Of the 11 existing Futures League clubs, 10 are affiliated with their parent KBO clubs while one team, Sangmu Phoenix, is a military squad run by the Army.

According to the KBO, Ulsan must have its own stadium and practice facilities ready, and also establish a front office plus a team of at least seven coaches and 35 players by the mid-January.

Ulsan will be free to pick from a wide pool of players, including undrafted amateurs and free agents, and the new team will also be allowed to sign up to four foreign-born players — with a maximum salary of $100,000 per player.

For Korean-born players, the minimum salary will be set at 30 million won ($20,420), the same as that in the KBO.

While players on other non-Sangmu Futures League clubs can get called up to the KBO during the season, Ulsan players may be traded to a KBO team. Ulsan will be allowed to trade up to five players within a season, and buyout fees must not exceed the player's annual salary.

Ulsan's Munsu Baseball Stadium has served as the alternate home stadium for the KBO's Lotte Giants, based in the nearby city of Busan. This year, the NC Dinos used Munsu as their temporary home in May when they were kept away from their home in Changwon, another neighboring city, following the death of a fan in an incident at Changwon NC Park.

The 2026 Futures League season will begin March 20 and teams will each play 116 games.

Yonhap