Could it be the majesty of Shohei Ohtani and Tokyo Dome?

On the 14th, Japanese media outlet Nikkan Gendai analyzed the economic impact of the opening series in Tokyo scheduled for the 18th to 19th.

The media explained, "The entire nation of Japan is buzzing ahead of the Tokyo Series. The Dodgers have established a thorough security system," stating, "Around 3 p.m. on the 13th, the Dodgers' charter flight arrived at Tokyo Haneda Airport. About 500 fans gathered in the airport lobby, forming a long line. The Dodgers blocked media access from the time they arrived at Haneda Airport through their subsequent training. Fans could track the players' movements through the official social media accounts of the team and players. It was an extraordinary day."

The opening series at Tokyo Dome on the 18th and 19th has already created a buzz for ticket sales. Approximately 420,000 people tried to purchase 43,500 tickets for Tokyo Dome, resulting in a "ticket frenzy." Naturally, the tickets sold out in just a few seconds.

Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Freddie Freeman said in an interview with local media, including MLB.com, "Our team has Ohtani, Yamamoto, and Sasaki. The Cubs have Imamura and Suzuki. In any case, it’s 10 times more exciting than Korea," adding, "While we have some idea of what to expect, it’s hard to imagine what it will actually feel like. When we landed in Korea, there was a lot of excitement even at the airport. I can’t even imagine what it will feel like to land in Tokyo."

The Orange County Register reported, "Last year's Seoul Series was held at Gocheok Dome, which has about 16,000 seats. This year's game in Tokyo will be held at Tokyo Dome, and it is likely to sell out," noting, "The opening game against the Cubs is being sold for $11,000 on resale sites, with some sites listing prices close to $20,000. Even the practice games have exceeded $4,000 on secondary resale sites."

Nikkan Gendai mentioned, "According to sources, the revenue from the Tokyo Series is incomparable to last year's opening game held in Korea," stating, "This Tokyo opening game is also held in Ohtani’s home country, with Dodgers' Yamamoto and Sasaki, and Cubs' Imamura and Suzuki among the Japanese players. The stadium capacity is also incomparable, as Tokyo Dome can hold over 40,000 attendees compared to Gocheok Sky Dome in Korea. The Seoul opening series held last year had 15,952 seats filled. Compared to Tokyo Dome's 43,500 seats, that’s roughly a threefold difference."

Ahead of the Tokyo opening series, practice games will be held against the Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers, totaling six games. Kazushiro Miyamoto, an honorary professor of economics at Kansai University, stated, "It is said that Yomiuri and Hanshin's regular-season games, which attract more than 40,000 spectators, generate about 300 million yen in direct economic effects just from ticket sales. This Tokyo Series has sold out all premium seats, and a variety of merchandise is being sold," adding, "If Ohtani even hits a home run, the value of that ball will be tremendous and could be worth over $1 million (140 million won). Considering these factors, while precise calculations are difficult, it will at least generate more than double the economic effects of the Yomiuri and Hanshin games."

The media stated, "Based on this calculation, it seems that the Dodgers will generate about 600 million yen per game, totaling 2.4 billion yen (approximately 235 million won) over four games. This is only regarding game revenue," adding that when including indirect economic effects such as the sales increase of sponsors that contracted with Ohtani, it would create an economic impact of 5 billion yen (49 billion won) to 10 billion yen (98 billion won).

[OSEN]