Why Japan is the answer to the long-cherished baseball dream
Why Japan is the answer to the long-cherished baseball dream
The Major League Baseball season 2025 is in full swing. I would usually point out on such events that baseball is struggling with difficulties and is on the way to the Sport-Gräberfeld. I did that , although this sport was my first great love.
a positive look at the future of baseball
This article, however, will take a different perspective on the future of baseball. I think baseball has the potential to become a worldwide phenomenon.
The influence of Tokyo Series
What changed my opinion were the impressive ratings of the Tokyo Series, which took place a little more than a week ago. To illustrate this in numbers: Over 25 million Japanese looked at the first game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs, while more than 23 million in the second game.
comparison with American television viewers
to classify this number: Last year there were only Five prime time events that had more viewers-all from the NFL. The United States has more than 200 million inhabitants more as a Japan were. Only the Super Bowl attracts such a large amount in the USA.
long -term view of the number of spectators
It would be easy to say that the Tokyo Series was a unique event. But a look at the ratings of the last World Series shows something else. The Dodgers and the New York Yankees recorded over 12 million viewers per game in Japan, while the average game of the World Series in the United States was 16 million
The role of Shohei ohtani
The fact that the number of spectators in Japan was almost on par with those in the United States is highly remarkable. The games took place in Japan in the morning, which means that they might have put on more spectators at night. In fact, the first games in Japan had a larger number of spectators . When I was a child, it would have been unimaginable that Japan had more spectators for the World Series than the country where baseball originated.
The challenges for the MLB
However, we shouldn't be surprised. A big problem that has baseball in the USA is the lack of a real star. We are far from sizes like Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle; Babe Ruth played his last game 90 years ago. Shohei ohtani is exactly this star. He leads the league with over 9 million followers on Instagram , that is about 7 million more than with his former teammate mike trout .
ohtanis popularity in Japan
ohtanis popularity in Japan is impressive. A survey of the yomiuri shimbun most popular athlete in the country. The percentage of those who called him as their favorite was higher than with any previous athlete. It is likely that Ohtani would be even more popular in a survey this year.
The future of baseball in Japan
The question for the MLB is whether it can continue to count on the support from Japan if ohtani is no longer in the picture. It will not be easy, but it is definitely possible. Professional baseball (45%) and high school baseball (40%) were the two most common answers from the Japanese when asked about their favorite sport. The MLB took fourth place with 30% compared to 19% in the previous year. For comparison: only 10% of the Americans named baseball as their favorite sport, a decrease of 39% in the 1940s. Baseball is no longer the leisure activity in the United States that it was once.
strategies for the MLB
For the MLB, it will be crucial to use these findings for themselves. We already know from Report that you are working on bringing the game closer to the Japanese audience, including through merchandise and media contracts. How The athletic Billions are. " If the MLB succeeds in realizing its strategies, it could really bring the "world" to the World Series, as was rarely the case before.
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