Major League Baseball Communications announced that Game 1 of the 2025 Tokyo Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs has become the most watched MLB game in Japan history.
MLB PR posted on their account on X/Twitter that the Dodgers-Cubs game pulled 25 million viewers, six million more than the previous record of 19 million, established during Game 1 of last year’s Seoul Series between the Dodgers and the San Diego Padres. Likewise, it’s 19 million more than those who viewed Game 1 of the 2019 Tokyo Series between the then-Oakland Athletics and the Seattle Mariners.
Game 1 of the 2025 Tokyo Series presented by Guggenheim averaged more than 25 million viewers across all platforms making it the most-watched @MLB game ever in Japan. pic.twitter.com/dKyFP8T3qH
— MLB Communications (@MLB_PR) March 19, 2025
Putting the 23 million in perspective, Japan has a population of 124.5 million as of 2023. Therefore, roughly 20 percent of the country tuned in to the start of the 2025 MLB season. That massive attention is unsurprising, considering both teams have exceptional Japanese players. The Cubs have Shota Imanaga and Seiya Suzuki, while the Dodgers have the trio of Roki Sasaki, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and reigning National League Most Valuable Player Shohei Ohtani.
The Dodgers defeated the Cubs in that game 4-1. While Imanaga surrendered no hits in four innings, the Dodgers scored three runs in the fifth inning against relief pitcher Ben Brown. The defending World Series champions added another run in the top of the ninth to settle the final score.
-Lance Fernandez