Netflix spent a lot of money to get the exclusive broadcast rights to the World Baseball Classic in Japan.
Over 50 million people in the country tuned in to watch the 2023 final between the United States of America and Japan, with Shohei Ohtani striking out Mike Trout to win the most prestigious international trophy in baseball.
It was iconic.
It was iconic enough that Netflix reportedly shelled out $100 million to be the sole provider not only of Japanese games but also of the entire World Baseball Classic in the country, which views the tournament at a level similar to the World Cup.
Everything was going well for Netflix until Saturday, when Venezuela knocked off the defending champions of Samurai Japan in an offensive fireworks show. Ohtani popped up with the final out of the game as the Latin American team booked their ticket to a semifinal against Italy, while the favored Japanese are out with three games to go.
While Netflix would have hoped that Japanese fans would stay for the heavyweight bout of the century between Paul Skenes’ United States and the firepower of the Dominican Republic, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
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Minutes after Japan’s loss in the WBC, thousands of posts on social media called for people to cancel their Netflix subscriptions before they renewed.
It’s been a tidal wave of negativity towards Netflix last night, which has used its broadcasting rights to rule with an iron fist over how WBC games have been shown in Japan.
The exclusivity pushed millions of Japanese baseball fans to buy Netflix, but for those who couldn’t, they had to listen to the game on the radio or find other ways to watch, as Netflix barred bars and other public places from showing Samurai Japan games.
