New York Mets fans are not enamored of the Planet Baseball Classic soon after closer Edwin Diaz suffered a knee injury that will expense him the 2023 season. But the international tournament generates substantial bottom-line numbers for Main League Baseball. 

Baseball is a single of the most profitable international sports. 

The WBC’s Very first Round set records for Television viewership and attendance. The numbers from baseball-crazed nations like Japan and South Korea indicate the Grand Old Fame has area for international expansion.

This year marks the fifth iteration of the WBC given that its launch in 2006. Take into account some of the numbers generated by the WBC’s initially round of action in 4 places about the globe:

• USA: Group USA’s initially game versus Good Britain on FOX/FOX Deportes averaged 1.592 million viewers. That produced it the most-watched initially-round game in America given that 2009.  

• Japan: Japan vs. South Korea on March 10th pulled a 44.four Television rating, out-rating all sports competitions throughout the Tokyo Olympics. The island nation’s initially 4 games averaged a whopping 42.three ratings.

• South Korea: The 4 games, which includes South Korea, averaged 1.781 million viewers, up 35% from 2017. South Korea vs. Japan averaged two.709 million viewers – generating it the most-watched WBC game in Korea given that their championship game against Japan in 2009. 

• Taiwan: Chinese Taipei’s 4 Very first Round games averaged 1.301 million viewers in Taiwan. That was up 151% from 2017.

• Caribbean: The numbers for games involving Caribbean nations are not full but. But MLB mentioned viewership for initially-round games in Puerto Rico was up 77%. Puerto Rico’s game against the Dominican Republic averaged a huge 62% share of folks watching Television then.

The initially round also sets new all round and typical attendance records. 

This year’s games drew 1,010,999 fans. That is up 98% vs. the earlier record of 510,056 in 2017. The typical game attendance of 25,275 was up 24% from 2017.  

For instance, the Pool B games at the Tokyo Dome in Japan set new tournament records for all round attendance (361,976) and typical attendance (36,198).

Meanwhile, the Pool D games in Miami posted a new US record for attendance, drawing 295,850 fans. That was up +81% vs. 2017. Mexico’s win more than Group USA on March 12th drew 47,534 fans, a new WBC record for any opening-round game.

As with the upcoming MLB season, two-way Japanese star Shohei Ohtani is looming big.

He gained the most new social media followers of any player, with a 1.36 million improve given that March 1st.

“My pals, the Planet Baseball Classic is officially a single of the world’s greatest tournaments,” tweeted Fox MLB analyst Ben Verlander.

The action will resume Saturday evening, with Group USA playing Venezuela at 7 p.m. ET.