BASEBALL/MLB World Series records highest viewership in years

Taipei, Oct. 29 (CNA) The recent purchase by a local company of Shohei Ohtani's historic home run ball for a record-high price proved no accident, as Taiwan's viewership of the 2024 MLB World Series-featuring Ohtani's Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees-has soared to its highest level in years.

The series' first two games on Saturday and Sunday saw a significant boost in viewership for Taiwan's two major sports broadcasters, Videoland Sports and ELTA Sports, with Videoland more than doubling its viewership compared to the previous two years.

Game 1 and Game 2 saw the average TV ratings for Videoland Sports, Taiwan's largest sports cable channel, surge to 1.31 percent and 1.26 percent, respectively, compared to just 0.55 percent for Game 1 and 0.60 percent for Game 2 of the 2022 and 2023 World Series.

Meanwhile, the ratings for the two games on ELTA Sports, the largest multimedia on demand (MOD) service provider for sports in Taiwan, ballooned to 1.3 percent and 1.6 percent, the highest in four years, marking an increase of about 30 percent from the preceding seasons, according to ELTA Sports head Bill Hsieh (謝思毅).

"Technically, in terms of viewership rating, it's worth a firecracker celebration when you see the number top 1 percent, because that means it outperforms other popular TV programs like soap operas," Hsieh told CNA on Tuesday, though he declined to specify the number of viewers.

The excitement surrounding the first two games in Taiwan mirrored a similar phenomenon in the United States and Japan.

U.S.-based FOX Sports reported the highest TV viewership since 2017, averaging 14.55 million viewers, while Japan saw the highest average viewership for Game 2 with 15.9 million, according to data compiled by MLB.

The viewership hike did not surprise Hsieh, who noted the lack of a World Series featuring two traditional powerhouses over the past few years.

Referring to the Yankees' history with Wang Chien-ming (王建民), arguably the most successful Taiwanese starting pitcher in the majors, Videoland Sports anchor Jacky Bing-sheng Lee (李秉昇) remarked that this year's World Series showcases a matchup between the two most popular MLB franchises in Taiwan.

Lee also credited Ohtani, who has displayed unique charisma both on and off the field with flair.

In addition to exceeding expectations as "the greatest two-way player in the sport's history," Lee emphasized that the Japanese superstar has "dominated American sports in an American fashion."

"When talking about a successful Asian player in the majors, people used to think of Ichiro Suzuki [as the model], who had good speed and could rack up hits," Lee said.

"But Ohtani does it the American way and is such an all-round player. He can strike you out, he's got speed and skills, and he can hit home runs like Western players."

After leading the American League in home runs during the 2023 season with the Los Angeles Angels -- a season cut short by an elbow injury -- Ohtani joined the Dodgers last December on a record-breaking 10-year, US$700 million contract and has been crowned the 2024 National League home run leader with 54 homers.

That figure cements him as the Dodger with the most home runs in a single season, second only to the Yankees' captain Aaron Judge, who hit 58.

The two are widely seen as the potential regular season MVPs in their respective leagues this year, and their appearance in the series made it the first time in the league that two hitters with 50 homers from the regular season have played against each other in the World Series, Stats Perform wrote in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter).

While Taiwanese fans have historically paid much attention to Japanese players in the MLB, Lee observed that the rivalry MLB has sought to shape between the two has attracted viewers who do not typically watch baseball.

"I had a friend who only watched the NBA, but after seeing multiple MLB ads highlighting Ohtani and Judge's matchup this postseason, he has started watching the games as well," Lee said.

At a press conference held before the series, the Yankees slugger expressed nothing but respect for Ohtani, calling him "the best player in the game" and "what an ambassador for this sport."

However, the series might have disappointed many fans, as the Yankees have lost three games in a row and could be swept as soon as Tuesday evening (U.S. time), with Judge managing just one hit in 12 at-bats while striking out seven times.

According to Sarah Langs, an MLB statistics expert, teams taking a 3-0 lead in all best-of-seven series have secured the series 39 out of 40 times.

The exception?

The Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series, where the team blew a 3-0 lead to the Boston Red Sox, the World Champions of that year.