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The story
In the MLB postseason, the Tampa Bay Rays swept the Cleveland Guardians 3-0 in the American League Championship Series, clinching their third World Series berth in six years. The series MVP was starting right-hander Freddy Peralta. Starting on the 23rd, they’ll face the National League champion Milwaukee Brewers, meaning whichever team wins will claim the franchise’s first-ever World Series title. On 5ch, with neither team having a Japanese player or much name recognition, many posters wished for a matchup like Yankees vs. Dodgers instead, sparking a debate over TV ratings and team popularity.
◇October 19 (October 20 Japan time) — ALCS Game 6: Rays 7, Guardians 3 (St. Petersburg)
In the MLB postseason, the Rays won their third straight game to take the series 4-2, securing their third World Series berth in six years.
Starting right-hander Freddy Peralta (30) was named series MVP, holding the Guardians to 5 hits and 1 run over 5⅓ innings to pick up the win — his second of the series. The World Series, hosted by the Brewers in Milwaukee, opens on the 23rd (24th in Japan). Whichever team wins will be claiming its first-ever championship.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Yeah, nobody even knows any of the players.
Kind of like a Hiroshima Carp vs. Orix Buffaloes matchup, huh?
Radio news actually reported the Game 5 result.
Neither team even has a Japanese player.
Thought it was basically a promo plug lol
National ratings are gonna be brutal.
Though being Florida, Trump will be happy about it.
Ratings are gonna be scary bad.
You really need the Dodgers, Yankees, or Red Sox in it for people to get hyped.
In Japan terms, it's like how things don't get exciting unless the Giants and Tigers are strong.
Iwamura too.
Or maybe as a guest commentator.
Nielsen expanded its viewer measurement sample since last September, so it won't be as bad as you think.
It was still down 10-20% through Game 5 last year though.
19th vs. 27th.
That's because Tampa's got the Buccaneers (NFL) there.
For Dodgers games it's 70,000-80,000.
Crazy, Ohtani's popularity draws more demand than the World Cup even.
That was the Mourinho vs. Deschamps managerial duel.
Looking back now, it's actually a pretty historic final.
That was a classic match, come on.
Such an unpopular team.
Last year's US ratings were even worse though.
After all, it was the Toronto Blue Jays — a Canadian team.
Canadian ratings don't even count toward the US numbers.
Market size-wise, one's mid-tier and the other's lower-upper tier.
He's passed away, but Rokusuke Ei would've been too.
Misiorowski is off-the-charts talented but not exactly fun to watch.
Nah, guys like Caminero and Díaz are plenty fun to watch.
Pretty much everyone except you already does that.
Even the Japan Series only really gets hype when it's Fukuoka (Hawks) and Yokohama (BayStars) anyway.
The MLB commissioner's probably holding his head in his hands right now…
It's actually the opposite.
Owners don't want to spend money, so they welcome low-budget teams winning.
If anything, people were saying it'd be bad news if the Dodgers won it all again, since that just reinforces 'you need money to win.'
Only Game 1, which aired right after an NFL game pulling nearly 30 million viewers, got a +3 million boost, huh.
Exact same matchup as last year.
Same sweep pattern, and ratings are up 60% lol.
MLB's popularity is no joke.
US domestic viewership
66.4 million — ⚽ 2026 World Cup Final, Spain vs. Argentina
50.1 million — ⚽ 2026 World Cup, USA vs. Belgium
46.7 million — ⚽ 2026 World Cup, Mexico vs. England
⋮
26.9 million — ⚾ 2025 World Series Game 7 *best for baseball in the 2020s
⋮
10.8 million — ⚾ 2026 WBC Final *best WBC ever
Looks like this year's numbers will be even lower than last year's lol
MLS isn't seeing any attendance boost right after the World Cup.
https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2026/09/16/mls-not-seeing-immediate-post-world-cup-attendance-bump/
According to an analysis by Sports Business Journal, the soccer buzz surrounding the 2026 FIFA World Cup hosted in North America hasn't translated into bigger MLS crowds in the two months since the league resumed from its 7-week break. Average attendance across the 154 regular-season games played since the league restarted on July 16 was 22,098 — down 1.7% from the same period in 2025, and essentially flat compared to this season's pre-break attendance.
Guess once the World Cup's over, it's back to normal.
Even though they're still big on OPS worship, oddly enough.
Pitch velocity went up and home runs went down.
The end of the fly-ball revolution.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
The Rays have long struggled with low home attendance and are known as a small-market club. Their World Series opponent, the Brewers, is likewise a small-market team, and the thread’s view that “team owners actually welcome a matchup where they can win without spending money” reflects the realities of MLB’s revenue-sharing system and luxury tax under team management. On the other hand, concerns about falling ratings stem from recent data showing that games involving the Dodgers — Shohei Ohtani’s team — draw dramatically higher average viewership, a point that’s easy to overlook when considering how the presence or absence of Japanese players affects US television ratings. Comparisons with soccer ratings also came up, but reports that MLS attendance has struggled to grow even after the World Cup suggest it would be premature to call this a simple reversal of popularity.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geino/Sports News+) thread “[MLB] AL’s Rays sweep into the World Series with their 3rd straight win!“.
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