Based on Daily Sports Column (Japanese) / デイリースポーツの連載コラムから
So, Major League Baseball owners were unable to reach an agreement with the players’ association. The result is that the collective bargaining agreement that expired on December 1, 2021, has not been replaced by a new one, and the owners, who locked the players out the very next day, continue to keep their barn doors shut. The 2022 MLB season will not start on time.
MLB fans, you are probably saying one of the following things: “The owners are greedy.” “The players are greedy.” “The commissioner is an idiot.” “I’m done with this sport.” “#%$?!*”
All five of those responses are valid and correct. And my initial response to you is, “Come to NPB. Watch some high-quality baseball that is not tainted by greed. Japan prides itself on sacrificing the self for the good of the team, and this mentality filters right down to the baseball field, where avarice does not get in the way of the game we love.”
And then you, my friend, would respond with, “Great! Sign me up! How do I watch this beloved game of yours?”
“This game of OURS, now, pal. You’re in! Are you in Japan? Then sign up with DAZN, where you will be able to stream home games from 11 of the 12 teams!”
“Wait… why not all 12?”
“Because there’s this one team that does not believe in sharing its broadcasting rights with a streaming service like DAZN.”
“No sacrificing the self for the good of the league, then?”
“OK, you win this round. But still… pretty awesome since it’s only like ¥3000 per month, and you get all kinds of other sports content besides just baseball!”
“Well I’ve heard of DAZN before. But I don’t live in Japan. Still, I should be able to do that, right? Watch… 92% of games for that low, low price?”
“Afraid not. You’re geoblocked. DAZN only streams NPB games in Japan. And VPNs apparently do not work so well, either…”
“Well then… back to square one. Doesn’t your league have something like MLB-TV?”
“There is, kind of… Pacific League TV is a streamlined service offering you all of the games hosted by all six PL teams! All for a very reasonable ¥1595 per month! And you can watch it from anywhere in the world! No geoblocking!”
“That’s all fine and well… but I want to watch the Hanshin Tigers, like you. Can I watch Tigers games on PL-TV?”
“Afraid not. We’re in the CL… We do have Toratele, which is the Hanshin Tigers’ unique streaming service. You can watch all of our home games, plus road games played at Tokyo Dome against the Giants, for ¥660 per month! Pretty awesome, no?”
“So what about the other road games?”
“Well, for the other road games, you’re kind of out of luck… some of the other teams have their own streaming services, too, though…”
“So… I can watch what, 60% of Tigers games, but that’s it?”
“Right. But still, no lockouts!”
“Yeah, that all sounds quite complicated and incomplete. I’ll give it some thought. I hope ESPN picks up KBO games again, though. Much easier, and… well, it’s still baseball, right?”
All this to say, NPB suffers from greed and foolish owners every bit as much as MLB. It may not lock out the players, but they can’t agree with each other enough to offer a streamlined platform from which to market their game. Think about it: In August 2021, Samurai Japan won the gold medal at the Olympic Games. In November, Shohei Ohtani was unanimously named AL MVP. Japanese baseball is getting attention and props. And then, MLB gets foolish and locks out players and fans from the game they love. This was a perfect chance for NPB to capitalize, ride this wave, and become a global juggernaut. But no, the owners lack unity and vision to make this happen.
I commend the Pacific League for its efforts, but condemn the Central League for its stubbornness to cooperate and get the NPB all together on the same page. I guess owners and politics are somewhat ruining baseball in Japan, too. Perhaps I’ll follow my “friend” and start pursuing the game in Korea instead…
Which team won’t do DAZN? Swallows?
Carp only, I think.