NYSportsJournalism.com - World Baseball Classic An Attendance, Merch Hit

Published 2 months ago• 4 minute read

Japan won the 2023 World Baseball Classic championship game last night and cliched its third overall WBC title, defeating defending champion USA, 3-2.

Japan’s Shohei Ohtani (a member of MLB’s Los Angeles Angles) was named WBC MVP and was also named to the All-WBC Team at two positions: DH and starting pitcher.

MLB said the 2023 World Baseball Classic Final on FS1, Fox Deportes and Fox Sports streaming services was the most-watched WBC game all-time in the U.S., up +69% from the 2017 Final with a combined audience of 5.2 million viewers.

A peak combined average audience of 6.506 million viewers tuned in for the conclusion of the tournament which saw Ohtani strike out his Angels teammate and Team USA Captain Mike Trout to clinch the title.
Due to more games via an expansion from 16 to 20 teams, the 2023 World Baseball Classic final attendance was 1,306,414, the highest in the history of the tournament. The 2023 total is a +20% increase over the previous record in 2017 of 1,086,720.

Ohtani’s Instagram following increased more than 2.1 million during the tournament, an increase of +89%. Ohtani is the now the first MLBl player to surpass 4 million followers on Instagram, with over 4.5 million followers.

The World Baseball Classic is scheduled to return for its sixth edition in March 2026.

The 2023 All-WBC Team:

Catcher Salvador Perez, Venezuela

First base Yu Chang, Chinese Taipei

Second base Javier Báez, Puerto Rico

Shortstop Trea Turner, USA

Third base Yoan Moncada, Cuba

Outfield Randy Arozarena, Mexico

Outfield Mike Trout, USA

Outfield Masataka Yoshida, Japan

Designated Hitter Shohei Ohtani, Japan

Pitcher Shohei Ohtani, Japan

Pitcher Patrick Sandoval, Mexico

Pitcher Miguel Romero, Cuba

March Madness is famously associated with the NCAA Div. I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments.

This year, baseball is celebrating its own version of a tournament during March.

According to MLB, the 2023 World Baseball Classic “has driven significant fan interest and broken numerous tournament consumption records” after a First Round that took place in four locations.

The fifth overall installment of the Classic — but first since 2017, when the U.S. won the title — has set records in attendance, viewership and merchandise sales, due in part to more games via an expansion from 16 to 20 teams.

The Semi-Final round is scheduled for March 19 and March 20, with the Championship on March 21, all in loanDepot Park, home of the Miami Marlins (all on FS1/Fox Deportes).

The First-Round, which began March 7, drew 1,010,999, the most attended-round in the history of the tournament and a +98% increase vs. the previous record of 510,056 in 2017.

The average attendance of 25,275 also set a record for the First Round of the tournament, topping the average of 20,402 in 2017 by +24%, according to MLB.

On March 11, over the course of two games in each location, loanDepot Park drew 71,289 and Chase Field in Phoenix had total attendance of 68,147.

Mexico’s win against Team USA on March 12 in Chase Field drew 47,534, a World Baseball Classic attendance record for any First Round game.

Team USA’s first game, versus Great Britain on Fox and Fox Deportes, averaged 1.592 million viewers, making it the most-watched first round game in the U.S. since 2009.

Pool B, held at the Tokyo Dome in Japan, broke records for the most fans of any round in the history of the tournament (361,976) and the highest average attendance (36,198) of any First or Second Round pool in the tournament’s history.

Pool D in Miami at loanDepot park set the record for the most attended World Baseball Classic round ever in the United States drawing 295,850, an increase of +81%. Average attendance in Miami registered 29,585, which was an increase of +8% vs. the 2017 average of 27,313.

After the First Round, MLB said the 2023 World Baseball Classic has already broken the Tournament’s all-time sales records for merchandise across both e-commerce — via MLBShop.com and the Fanatics network of Web sites — and in the four host venues: Chase Field, loanDepot Park, the Tokyo Dome in Japan and Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taiwan.

MLB did not share specific sales numbers.

On social media, Japanese star Shohei Ohtani gained the most followers of any player during the First Round with a 1.36 million increase since March 1.

In addition, there was +564% more total engagements on World Baseball Classic social media accounts during the First Round of the 2023 tournament compared to the 2017 event.

The World Baseball Classic is not using the new elements that will be part of MLB beginning on Opening Day (March 30), including a pitch clock, larger bases and a restriction on defensive alignments.