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Baseball Tokyo Series shatters records to become biggest standalone International Event in MLB history by Latino Sports March 21, 2025 Image Credit: MLB First Game Averaged 25 Million Viewers Becoming Most-Watched MLB Game in Japan’s History; Tokyo Series Sets International Event Merchandise Sales Record and Surpasses All MLB All-Star Event Sales; MLB Tokyo Series Fan Fest Draws More Than 450,000 Fans as Most Visited Fan Festival in MLB History The 2025 Tokyo Series presented by Guggenheim which marked the homecoming of reigning National League MVP Shohei Ohtani along with four other Japanese-born players on the two Clubs set new MLB records for viewership, merchandise sales, and attendance making it the largest standalone international event in Major League Baseball history. Most-Watched MLB Game & Series Ever in Japan The first game of the Tokyo Series drew an average of more than 25 million viewers across all platforms making it the most-watched MLB game ever in Japan . The audience was more than 6 million higher than the previously most-watched MLB game in the country, which was the first game of the 2024 Seoul Series (18.7 million) and more than 19 million viewers higher than the first game of 2019 Tokyo Series (5.6 million). Image Credit: MLB The second game of the Tokyo Series averaged more than 23 million viewers across all platforms making it the second most-watched MLB game in Japan’s history. The two-game Tokyo Series averaged more than 24 million viewers making it the most-watched MLB series ever in Japan. Viewership for the series eclipsed the previous high of the 2024 Seoul Series by nearly 7 million (17.2 million over two games) and the 2019 Tokyo Series by more than 16 million (7.7 million over two games). The Dodgers exhibition game against the Yomiuri Giants averaged 18 million viewers across all platforms making it the most-watched MLB exhibition game ever in the country. The Dodgers second exhibition game against the Hanshin Tigers averaged 12.3 million viewers. The Cubs exhibition games averaged 5.7 million viewers vs. Hanshin Tigers and 10.4 million viewers against the Yomiuri Giants. In total, the four exhibition games averaged 11.6 million viewers across all platforms. Image Credit: MLB In the U.S. where the game started at 5 a.m. in Chicago and 3 a.m. in Los Angeles, the first game of the Tokyo Series averaged 838,000 viewers on FOX making it MLB’s best performance ever for an Opening Day game played in Asia. The first game average was a +139% increase over last year’s 350,000 viewers for the first game of the Seoul Series which also featured the Dodgers. Together, Game 1 and Game 2 (361,000 viewers on FS1) averaged 590,000 viewers, an increase of +59% over last year’s average for the Seoul Series. Merchandise Sales Surpass All MLB International Events and All-Star Games in History The Tokyo Series recorded the best merchandise sales of any MLB international event in history with sales eclipsing the previous biggest international event, the 2024 London Series, by +320% . Operated by Fanatics, the MLB Official Store at Tokyo Dome also surpassed sales of all MLB All-Star Weeks beating the biggest previous All-Star sales high, the 2022 All-Star Game in Los Angeles, by +105% . With more than 30,000 square feet and 140 registers, the MLB Official Store at the Tokyo Dome averaged more than 1,000 transactions per hour and sold more than a half million products . The most popular item sold was the Shohei Ohtani Dodgers jersey with the Tokyo Series patch. The product assortment also featured successful collaborations with popular global brands and Japanese-based entertainment properties including artist Takashi Murakami, Complex, Ralph Lauren, Chiikawa and more. Image Credit: MLB In addition, Fanatics announced that the Tokyo Series was its best-selling special event in company history across all sports . More than 200,000 fans shopped at Fanatics-operated MLB Official Store and MLB Official Shops in Tokyo throughout the week. Packed Tokyo Dome and Biggest Fan Festival in MLB History The Tokyo Dome hosted six games including four exhibition games and the first two games of the MLB season between the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers. In total, the six games drew capacity crowds with total attendance of 252,795 . During the Mastercard pre-sale, more than 380,000 people were trying to get tickets at the same time. In addition, MLB Tokyo Series Fan Fest presented by Guggenheim drew more than 450,000 fans over the course of 12 days. The free event located at TOKYO SKYTREE was the most-visited MLB fan festival in league history. Image Credit: MLB Digital Engagement Video content across MLB social channels had 88.07 million video plays, a +75% increase from last year’s Seoul Series. MLB social media content earned 9.17 million engagements, an increase of +50% compared to the Seoul Series across the exhibition and Regular Season games played. Posts regarding the Tokyo Series received + 42% more engagements and +62% more video plays than other content published on MLB run social media during the stretch. MLB published native content in Japanese in the MLB app for the first time leading to strong engagement in Japan during the Tokyo Series. The mobile app saw + 206% growth among Japanese users from the 2019 Opening Series in Japan with nearly twice the number of fans accessing the app compared to the average day of Spring Training. Sponsor Engagement The MLB Tokyo Series presented by Guggenheim featured 23 sponsors who activated extensively throughout the country. The event was MLB’s largest international sponsorship event ever generating an increase of +240% versus the 2024 Seoul Series, the league’s previous record. Highlights included: 7-Eleven ran Tokyo Series promotion and advertising in more than 22,000 stores . Japan Airlines ran flights on the Dream Sho Jet, which features Shohei Ohtani and the MLB logo on the side of the plane. More than 270,000 applicants participated in a sweepstakes to win Tokyo Series tickets. More than 2 million Tokyo Series-themed beer cans were produced by Asahi, MLB’s long-standing Official Beer Partner in Japan, and 448,000 people applied for the Asahi beer sweepstakes. More than 111,000 people participated in the Ito En sweepstakes. Dip featured a digital ad of Shohei Ohtani on the side of a building in Shibuya. Press Release Courtesy of Major League Baseball Follow us on Social Media for updates and exclusive content Instagram: @latinosportsoficial Facebook: Latino Sports Twitter: @latinosports Related Topics Chicago Cubs Cubs Dodgers Japan Los Angeles Dodgers Major League Baseball MLB Tokyo Tokyo Series Click to comment Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. 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