Opening Series Shows Why MLB Wants To Grow Internationally
Well, when you see the ratings number for Game One of the Tokyo Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs, you can see why Major League Baseball wants to expand internationally.
Per MLB's Public Relations department, the season opener on Tuesday absolutely obliterated previous records for a professional baseball game in Japan. Thanks to a litany of Japanese stars including Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shota Imanaga and Seiya Suzuki, an incredible 25 million viewers tuned in across Japan.
READ: MLB's Tokyo Opening Day Absolutely Destroys NBA With Incredible Rating
The entire population of Japan is 125 million, meaning roughly one in five people living in the country watched Tuesday's game.
Want to know why MLB is working so hard to host regular season games in other countries? This is it.
TOKYO - Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani reacts after hitting a double in the ninth inning against the Chicago Cubs during the Tokyo Series at Tokyo Dome. on March 18, 2025. Photo: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
Shohei Ohtani Helping Spur Massive Ratings Increase In Japan
The last MLB game to exceed 25 million viewers domestically was Game 7 of the 2017 World Series between the Dodgers and Houston Astros. Game 7 in the 2019 World Series was over 23 million.
A regular-season game outdrew domestic viewership of World Series games, even though Japan has just over one-third of the US population. That's remarkable. And it shows what a massive star Ohtani is in his home country.
This particular series was of intense interest to Japanese fans, with the two teams having five combined players who started in the NPB. But it shows the value of growing baseball internationally. Opening up new markets, building on an existing and rapidly growing baseball culture in Japan and South Korea.
Sports leagues are always looking for growth, in revenue and fan base, and while the domestic market has recovered somewhat, it's still overwhelmed by the NFL. Despite the NFL's rapidly deteriorating quality, boring games, and predictability. Baseball will never have the sports betting and fantasy popularity the NFL enjoys, not to mention scheduling advantages with fewer games mostly centered on one day.
So how do you beat that? Grow the game internationally.
Baseball is now enjoying the fruits of having Shohei Ohtani. They're hoping to find more of them by grabbing the attention of younger fans with games played in their home country. In Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and beyond. The long-term plan is clearly to make the World Series into a worldwide event. As this series showed, MLB is on the right track.