TOKYO - Interest in the World Baseball Classic did not translate into Netflix subscriptions for Japanese fans, a recent Kyodo News phone survey showed.
While 4.9 percent of respondents said they newly subscribed to the major U.S. streaming service to watch the WBC, 36.4 percent said they were interested in the tournament but decided not to sign up, according to the survey conducted March 7 and 8.
This year's WBC began on March 5 in Japan, where the round-robin games of the five teams in Pool C were held through the 10th. Japan advanced to the quarterfinals in Miami but fell to Venezuela, who went on to win the title.
The research, conducted early in the tournament, showed 21.0 percent of respondents were existing Netflix subscribers who had already watched or planned to watch the WBC, while 37 percent of subscribers said they had no plans to watch.
By age group, people in their 40s and 50s showed the most interest, with 6.9 percent newly subscribing or planning to do so, followed by 4.8 percent of those in their 60s and above. The figure stood at 2.5 percent for those in their 30s and younger.
Among those in their 60s and above, 55.2 percent said they wanted to watch but were not going to subscribe. Among those in their 30s and younger, 52.4 percent said they had no interest in watching the tournament.
"The trend of increase in live streaming will not change," said Hiroshi Kanda, a professor at Edogawa University specializing in sports journalism.
"For those who are interested but not willing to subscribe, each game (rather than the whole tournament) could become subject to subscription."
He pointed out that in Britain, the government sets a list of major sporting events, such as the football World Cup and the Olympics, that are made available to free-to-air channels.
"Before such a notion took root, the trend of shifting to streaming services, originating in the United States, arrived in Japan," he said.
