World Baseball Classic Finals
In a nail-biting finish, Japan edged out America by just one point during the World Baseball Classic Finals. Picture this: it’s the bottom of the 9th inning, two outs, full count. Shohei Ohtani is pitching while Mike Trout stands at bat. A slider is thrown, and then—swing and a miss. Ohtani couldn’t contain his joy, tossing aside his glove and hat in celebration.
For Japan, that moment wasn’t just a significant sports highlight; it represented something deeper, a shared experience that resonated across the nation. Almost half of the households in the Kanto region, which includes Tokyo, tuned in to watch Ohtani strike out Trout.
Well, at least that’s what people thought back then.
Fast forward to now, with the next WBC starting in less than two months, Japan is grappling with an unexpected challenge: the high cost of access to such moments.
Netflix secured exclusive rights to air the WBC in Japan. So, if you don’t have a subscription, you’re out of luck—you won’t catch a single game, including Samurai Japan’s opener against Taiwan on March 6 and the final match in Miami shortly after.
Shinya Miyamoto, a former player for Samurai Japan, expressed his disappointment on his YouTube channel. “It’s really disappointing,” he said.
While Netflix is relatively affordable in Japan—less than $6 a month with ads and under $10 for the standard plan—it’s not really the price that’s upsetting fans.
Paying for TV sports is a new concept in Japan. Recently, some domestic sports broadcasts have moved to subscription services, but national games in major tournaments usually air on free television. For instance, the upcoming World Cup soccer matches will have Japanese games shown on network TV despite being on a streaming service.
That’s not the case for the WBC, for which Netflix is rumored to have paid nearly $100 million for those rights—five times what was spent for the last tournament.
This situation hasn’t gone unnoticed. Miyamoto, who was part of the team that won the WBC back in 2006, pointed out that the event was meant to grow the sport’s popularity, arguing that taking it off free TV contradicts that goal.
Will older fans struggle to use Netflix on their televisions? I’m also wondering if fewer kids will get to witness the WBC live, ultimately losing the chance to be inspired by players like Ohtani, similar to how Ohtani was motivated by Ichiro Suzuki.
Nippon Professional Baseball Commissioner Sadayuki Sakakibara spoke to the media last week, hoping for a compromise that might allow some games to be shown on network TV with tape delays. “It would be fantastic if the general public could manage to watch these games on free television,” he remarked.
Media coverage often paints Netflix as a “black ship,” a term referencing Admiral Matthew C. Perry’s arrival in Tokyo Bay back in 1853, which marked a significant shift from Japan’s long-standing isolationist policies. That change eventually opened Japan to foreign trade, leading to significant economic transformations.
Last year, when the Dodgers played in Tokyo, there were similar frustrations with ticket prices going well above $1,000 on resale markets. Nevertheless, those games attracted full crowds, highlighted by an exhibition match against the Japanese team that also sold out. In fact, Fanatics reported record sales of $40 million in merchandise and trading cards during the Tokyo Series.
Ultimately, the allure of watching players like Ohtani seems to outweigh the concerns over high prices. Netflix seems to be banking on the same outcome.
