Major League Baseball scored a coup when the Los Angeles Dodgers, led by Japanese-born star Shohei Ohtani, reached the last two World Series.
Besides the ratings boon created by having the game’s best player in the championship, Ohtani stirred immense interest overseas. Fans in Japan would wake up early in the morning to catch the games played at night in the U.S.
The time difference didn’t matter. The 2024 World Series between the Dodgers and the New York Yankees had a greater share of the Japanese population watching, compared to the U.S., after Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto started Game 2 for the Dodgers. The 2025 World Series enjoyed the largest international viewership for a baseball game (including the U.S., Japan and Canada) in 34 years, thanks to the Toronto Blue Jays’ first World Series appearance since 1993.
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Can Victor Wembanyama’s presence in the NBA Finals have a similar effect in France?
The logistics are difficult, but the interest is there. In France, a primetime game in the United States begins at 2:30 a.m. Game 3 between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs is on June 7 at Madison Square Garden.
The comparisons between Wembanyama and Ohtani reaching their first championship series run deep.
Historically, France has had only one broadcaster of NBA games in the country (beIN SPORTS), according to Front Office Sports, but Amazon Prime Video is streaming games in the country for the first time this year. The game will also be available on LeaguePass. The NBA says the Spurs are LeaguePass’ most-watched team in France.
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Wembanyama’s rockstar status in France, not unlike Ohtani’s in Japan, is starting to spread to the U.S. A fan ran onto the court during Wednesday’s Game 1 in San Antonio and attempted to take a selfie with Wembanyama. They were arrested and given a lifetime ban from all NBA arenas.
“When that fan ran on the court, it wasn’t to take a selfie with Mitchell Robinson or Jalen Brunson,” Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal said on the “Sports Media” podcast with Richard Deitsch. “We’ve seen the NHL, they want to report viewership (in) Canada plus the U.S. Major League Baseball for the World Baseball Classic, ‘here’s what we did with Japan and the U.S.’
“After this series is done, and we’re able to say ‘here’s how the numbers did in France plus the United States,’ it’s going to be huge. Wemby is a global, rising superstar.”
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