Baseball with breakfast was a hit in Japan.
A World Series that featured two of the nation's brightest stars drew a record 12.9 million viewers in Japan, making in the country's most-watched World Series ever.
Tokyo is 16 hours ahead of Los Angeles, meaning viewers in Japan were watching games at about 9 a.m. local time. The games were carried through Fuji TV, NHK BS and J Sports.
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Game 2 drew 15.9 million viewers in Japan, where fans closely follow Dodgers Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, making it the most-watched postseason baseball game ever in Japan. Yamamoto started the game and allowed just one run through 6 1/3 inning in LA's 4-2 win.
The series averaged 15.8 million viewers in the U.S. on Fox, Fox Deportes and streaming. That marks its best performance since 2017 and a 67% increase over last year, when the Rangers defeated the Diamondbacks in five games.
Both Ohtani and Yamamoto joined the Dodgers in blockbuster moves before the 2024 season.
Ohtani signed from the Angels for a record-breaking $700 million contract, one of the biggest deals in professional sports. Ohtani opted to defer over 97% of his annual salary throughout his 10-year deal.
In his six years with the Angels, Ohtani never made it to the postseason.
