WBC will be held next spring. Why did terrestrial broadcasting disappear? What are MLB’s intentions? We spoke to Kota, a former interpreter for the Yankees who was instrumental in the creation of the WBC as a member of the cultural division of the Yomiuri Shimbun.[First of three times]
The 6th WBC will be held next spring. Although there was a positive buzz that Shohei Ohtani would be the first Japanese major leaguer to officially announce his participation in the game, the team was faced with an unexpected situation in which terrestrial TV broadcasts would not be broadcast in Japan. Three years have passed since Samurai Japan’s dramatic victory sparked excitement, but will the WBC be able to become popular again without terrestrial broadcasting?
Terrestrial broadcasting…why does it disappear?
It was on August 26th of this year that Netflix announced that it had acquired exclusive distribution rights to WBC in Japan. The news that they had entered into a partnership agreement with WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC INC. (WBCI), which operates the WBC, and decided to exclusively stream all 47 games of the tournament in Japan, surprised baseball fans as well as WBC officials. The Yomiuri Shimbun, which is hosting the match in Japan, issued the following statement in a press release shortly after.
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Live broadcasts of all WBC matches to be held in March 2026 will be exclusively distributed by Netflix in Japan.
This tournament is sponsored by WBCI, and together with WBCI, our company is responsible for the management and promotion of each match as the organizer of the first round of this tournament, a total of 10 games at Tokyo Pool (located at Tokyo Dome).
Last time, in 2023, the WBC 1st Round Tokyo Pool match was broadcast live on terrestrial TV, with WBCI granting broadcasting and distribution rights to multiple domestic commercial broadcasting stations and overseas distribution companies through our company. However, for this tournament, WBCI directly granted Netflix the broadcasting and distribution rights in Japan for all matches, including the Tokyo pool match, without going through our company.
Please note that NHK and commercial broadcasting stations are able to broadcast match footage for reporting purposes, so you will be able to view match highlights on TV news as usual.
Thank you for your understanding. (Abbreviated and omitted part of the text)
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What was going on behind this shocking decision that could be called a bolt out of the blue?
