Shohei Ohtani’s first trip to the World Series is a major event in global sports, especially in Japan.
Fans from Japan purchased more World Series tickets for the first two games than any other country outside North America, according to ticket broker StubHub. Dodger Stadium was completely full on Friday night for the Los Angeles Dodgers’ game against the New York Yankees.
“Ohtani’s first season with the Dodgers attracted a lot of international attention, particularly from Japan,” said StubHub spokesperson Adam Budelli. “At the start of the season, fans from Japan made up 22% of all ticket sales for Dodgers games.
This interest for the expected MVP has continued into the World Series, where Japan leads ticket sales outside of North America for the games in Los Angeles.”
This isn’t surprising, considering Ohtani’s rise to a level of national identity that only a few athletes have reached, like Lionel Messi in Argentina or Wayne Gretzky in Canada.
Ohtani was already a famous figure in Japan before his six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, but his popularity has increased since he joined the powerful Dodgers as a free agent and quickly had a 50-50 season, marking his first playoff appearance and likely earning his third MVP award.
Ohtani is more than just an athlete, but the Dodgers are also gaining extra attention in Japan because of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the $325 million rookie who signed with Los Angeles shortly after Ohtani last winter.
