The Korean Basketball League, often abbreviated to the KBL, is the pre-eminent professional men's basketball league in South Korea. Its inaugural season was in 1997. The season starts in October and ends in April the following year. The KBL consists of 10 teams. Each team plays 54 games (27 home games and 27 away games). Each team is allowed to have 2 foreign players. Foreign players in the league are almost always either a forward or center. Formerly, foreign players were not allowed to exceed 2.03 m (6 feet, 8 inches) in height, although that rule has since been revoked.