Thanks to Shohei Ohtani, Major League Baseball (MLB) is smiling broadly. This year's Tokyo opening series made a historic blockbuster in the history of Major League Baseball.

MLB.com noted on the 22nd (Korea time) that the Tokyo opening series held on the 18th and 19th recorded the best performance ever among third-country events hosted by Major League Baseball in terms of viewership, merchandise sales, and attendance.

The Tokyo series featured a two-game opening set with the Los Angeles Dodgers, including Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Roki Sasaki, and the Chicago Cubs, featuring Shota Imanaga and Seiya Suzuki. With five of Japan's best players becoming Major Leaguers and visiting Japan again, interest was inevitable.

In particular, it was the first time that Shohei Ohtani, a three-time unanimous MVP who has perfectly excelled as both a pitcher and hitter and set the all-time first 50-home run and 50-steal milestone, visited Japan as a Major Leaguer. Shohei Ohtani, who signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers last year, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who signed a 12-year, $325 million contract and made his MLB debut, both debuted in the 'Seoul Series' held at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. This time, Sasaki also wore a Dodgers uniform and his debut was confirmed in Tokyo.

It was a condition that could not help but surpass the success and interest of the Seoul series. MLB.com mentioned the number of viewers in Japan. The media stated, "The first game of the Tokyo series recorded an average viewership of 25 million across all platforms in Japan, achieving the highest rating in the history of Major League games held in Japan," and explained that the previous record was 18.7 million from the 2024 Seoul series, which was 6 million more, and 19 million more than the 5.6 million from the first game of the 2019 Tokyo series.

They added, "The second game also recorded an average of 23 million viewers, marking the second-highest viewership in Japan. An average of 24 million viewers watched games 1 and 2 combined, making it the most-watched Major League series in Japan," surpassing the Seoul series (average of 17.2 million from 2 games) and the 2019 Tokyo series (average of 7.7 million from 2 games).

The success in the United States was also strong. The media stated, "Although the games started at 5 a.m. Chicago time and 3 a.m. Los Angeles time, the first game of the Tokyo series, aired on FOX, recorded 838,000 viewers, achieving the highest rating for a Major League opening game ever held in Asia." This was an increase of 139% compared to the first game of the Seoul series last year (350,000 viewers), and the average viewership for games 1 and 2 was 590,000, up 59% from the Seoul series. Merchandise sales also recorded the highest performance. The media announced, "The previous record was for the 2024 London series, and the Tokyo series saw a 320% increase compared to the London series." They also explained, "Sales were up 105% compared to the 2022 Los Angeles All-Star Game record.

The merchandise store, covering 30,000 square feet (about 8,350 pyeong) and with 140 registers installed, sold over 500,000 products, averaging more than 1,000 transactions per hour. Naturally, the best-selling merchandise was Ohtani's jersey with the Tokyo series patch.

Additionally, the total attendance for the six games, including the two-game opening set between the Dodgers and Cubs, as well as the practice games against the Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers, reached 252,795.

The reaction on social media was explosive. The media reported, "Tokyo series-related content posted on the MLB official account recorded 88.07 million views, a 75% increase. There were 9.17 million interactions, which is a 50% increase compared to the Seoul series."

Thanks to Ohtani, the sponsorship revenue from the Tokyo series was also outstanding. The media added, "A total of 23 sponsors participated in the Tokyo series, conducting extensive marketing activities across Japan. This recorded revenue that was 240% higher than the 2024 Seoul series."

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