World Baseball Classic: The Fight for Sports Rights Against Netflix

The excitement of the World Baseball Classic is here, but fans in Japan are facing a new challenge this year. Unlike the 2023 tournament that was broadcast for free on TV, this time around, fans are being asked to sign up for streaming services to watch their favorite teams play. This change is causing some concerns about the future of sports viewership in Japan.

In December 2025, Hayakawa Hiroshi, chair of the Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association, discussed the rising costs of broadcasting international sports events. He highlighted the challenges faced by private broadcasters in balancing the promotion of sports with the need for profitability. The broadcasting fees for this year’s World Baseball Classic are estimated to have skyrocketed to ¥15 billion, a significant increase from previous tournaments.

The previous tournament was shown on Amazon Prime Video, but this time, Netflix made a bold move by securing exclusive rights to broadcast the games in Japan. This decision bypassed traditional broadcasters like Yomiuri Shimbun and marked a shift in how sports events are being distributed to viewers.

The World Baseball Classic rights are controlled by World Baseball Classic Inc., a group representing Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association. This setup gives American professional baseball complete control over the tournament, limiting the involvement of Japanese broadcasters. For Japanese fans, this means relying on Netflix for live coverage of the games.

Netflix, known for its wide range of content, has built a significant subscriber base in Japan since it started services in September 2015. The streaming platform offers various plans to viewers, making it easy to access content on multiple devices. However, with only around 10 million subscribers in Japan, not every household will be able to watch the World Baseball Classic on Netflix.

The soccer industry is also closely watching these developments, especially after a shift to streaming for the final qualifications for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. DAZN, a sports streaming media company, held the broadcast rights for the Asian Qualifiers, raising concerns about the future of soccer viewership in Japan.

As the World Baseball Classic continues to unfold, the battle between traditional broadcasting and streaming services is shaping the future of sports entertainment in Japan. Fans are adapting to these changes, but the long-term impact on public interest in athletic competition remains to be seen.