The World Series Is Super Popular In Japan, But Its Audience Is Just 1/4th of What Distance Running Draws in Japan

Much is being made in the media about how the 2024 World Series is drawing massive television ratings in Japan. Did you know that more people are watching the World Series, which features Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, in Japan than in the US?

Yes, it’s true.

Game 2 of the World Series drew 15.9 million viewers in Japan and 13.8 million in the US.

Game 2 of the World Series between the Dodgers and Yankees had 15.9 million viewers in Japan.

Average Viewership
• America: 13.8M
• Japan: 15.9M

That means that 12% of Japan's entire population watched the game at 9 AM.

The Shohei Ohtani (and Yamamoto) effect is real 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/VZw8SAIEcT

— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) October 28, 2024

15 million for a baseball game is nice but I’ll just point out it pales in comparison to the ratings that the annual Hakone Ekiden gets in Japan.

The Hakone Ekiden is a two-day, 217.1 km collegiate relay road race between Hakone and Tokyo that takes more than 10 hours to complete. In 2021, it drew a cumulative audience of nearly 65 million viewers in Japan.

As Brett Larner wrote on Japan Running News:

Talk about the World Series/Hakone ratings on the world-famous LetsRun.com messageboard: