Season Opener in Japan.

[Truckload]

So I'm not a baseball fan by any means, but I was wondering what those of you that are thought about the season opener taking place in Tokyo... Seems odd.

[mstewar]

they've done it a few times now.. not really all that odd..

the NFL opened in Europe last year as well..

it's just pro-sports in the US trying to garner international interest (read: money)..

[preludese111]

Japanese people are almost as crazy about baseball as we are, so it's not a big deal or anything new. There's a lot of money in merchandise in Japan for MLB teams, so it's a good thing for them. For instance, Boston's pitcher "Dice-K" Matsazuka(Spelling is probably very wrong) was given $50 million just to negotiate with the Red Sox. He's not even that good of a pitcher, but they will get that and his salary and bonuses back and more in merchandice and TV sales. Boston games are now broadcast in Japan because of this guy, so it's a big money-making deal, even though he's not that great of a pitcher.

[Pork Pie]

Every time I see a Japanese game show*, the contestants are constantly wearing baseball uniforms. Now I understand!

*IE, MxC, best show EVaRR!!

[dubbs]

*IE, MxC, best show EVaRR!!
Plus oneee!!

But yeah, I've seen a lot of American baseball fans walking around Tokyo for the games. They love their baseball over here.

[Truckload]

Maybe they will figure out a way to reverse engineer it and make it fun and cheaper like they do everything else.

I guess I knew they were fans and that an occasional game took place in Japan, but had never realized that any of the openers were played there.