The World Baseball Classic broke records this year. With fans all around the world tuning in to watch their favorite players on the biggest stage, the WBC proved to be a major success, growing the game of baseball all around the world. In the tournament’s fifth edition, Japan sealed their third victory behind superstar Shohei Ohtani, defeating Team USA in the WBC Finals 3-2.
Millions of fans across the globe watched the World Baseball Classic, breaking records for viewership, attendance, social media interactions, and more. The WBC highlighted the game’s best players and made a legend of Ohtani, whose popularity grew exponentially after his unbelievable performance in the tournament.
Check out some WBC facts below.
- 70 Million Viewers Tuned Into South Korea vs Japan
- 62% of Households in Puerto Rico Watched Puerto Rico vs Dominican Republic
- Shohei Ohtani’s WBC Home Run Against Australia Has 7.5 Million Twitter Views
- WBC Was Top 3 Trending Topics on Twitter During March Madness
- 1.01 Million People Went To Watch WBC Pool Play
- Shohei Ohtani Nearly Tripled Instagram Followers After WBC (Up 282%)
- Japan vs Team US Was The Most-Watched WBC Game Ever with 5.2 Million Viewers
- Shohei Ohtani’s Strike Out Against Mike Trout Becomes MLB’s Highest-Liked Post
70 Million Viewers Tuned Into South Korea vs Japan
With baseball’s best talent front and center, the World Baseball Classic drew in millions of fans from around the world. South Korea vs Japan was one of the highest-viewed games of all time with more than 70 million fans tuning in to watch.
By comparison, only 12.5 million people watched the 2022 World Series, meaning 57.5 million more fans watched South Korea vs Japan at the World Baseball Classic.
62% of Households in Puerto Rico Watched Puerto Rico vs Dominican Republic
The WBC was a worldwide phenomenon with respective MLB players representing their countries in the baseball tournament. For Puerto Rico vs Dominican Republic game, about 62% of households in Puerto Rico tuned in to cheer on their home country.
Shohei Ohtani’s WBC Home Run Against Australia Has 7.5 Million Twitter Views
The WBC was life-changing for Shohei Ohtani.
While he was already making waves in the MLB, his talents shined through even brighter on the world stage. He was given the nickname, “Unicorn” for his ability to pitch and bat, something that hasn’t been done effectively since Babe Ruth.
Ohtani’s walk-off home run off the scoreboard has more than 7.5 million views on Twitter. It received 2.5 times more views than when Aaron Judge’s record-breaking 62nd home run of the 2022 season.
WBC Was Top 3 Trending Topics on Twitter During March Madness
The World Baseball Classic was a two-week event running from March 7 to March 21st.
Despite NCAA conference tournaments and March Madness scheduling conflicts, more people were paying attention to the international baseball tournament. In fact,
the WBC held the top three trending topics on Twitter on the opening weekend of the NCAA tournament.
1.01 Million People Went To Watch WBC Pool Play
There was greater attendance at the WBC Pool Play than all 81 of the Oakland A’s home games combined. For the WBC, over 1.01 million people came out to cheer on their favorite baseball players. Meanwhile, at the Oakland A’s game, a total of 788K fans showed up during all their home games.
That means 37 percent more people attended the WBC Pool Play than all of the A’s home games in 2022.
Shohei Ohtani Nearly Tripled Instagram Followers After WBC (Up 311%)
A worldwide superstar, Shohei Ohtani lit up the WBC.
From his unbelievable at-bats and appearances on the mound, Ohtani has more than tripled his Instagram following since the start of the WBC.
Before the tournament, Ohtani had about 1.7 million followers and in just a matter of weeks his instagram blew up by 311% to 5.3 million and counting.
Japan vs Team US Was The Most-Watched WBC Game Ever with 5.2 Million Viewers
There were over 5.2 million viewers on FS1, making it the most-watched WBC game ever on a single network since the 2022 NLCS. It was also the most-watched telecast on cable that night.
Just on FS1, the WBC Final generated an average of 4.5 million viewers. Together with Fox Sports and Fox Deportes, the viewership rose to 6.5 million for the WBC Finals.
Shohei Ohtani’s Strike Out Against Mike Trout is MLB’s Highest Liked Post
It was the matchup everyone was waiting for, Mike Trout vs Ohtani, and it happened for the final out of the WBC Finals.
Even though they are teammates in the MLB, the two went head-to-head in the ninth inning of the WBC Finals. With the championship on the line, Ohtani delivered a strikeout to Trout, sealing the victory for Japan. The strikeout is the most-liked MLB post on Twitter with over 200,000 likes.
At the top of the ninth with a 3-2 count, Trout had one last chance of saving the US. Instead, Ohtani turned up the heat, striking him out and winning the WBC and the MVP in the process.
