The first World Series of baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani was watched by approximately 12% of the Japanese population. However, one group could not enjoy the games live: the brokers in Tokyo. These brokers, unable to access their mobile phones in the trading room, missed the excitement of the Major League championship.
In the fourth game of the series, the Yankees achieved a victory against the Dodgers, Ohtani's team, which gave them hope for a comeback. However, in the fifth matchup, the Angels won their eighth title, leaving the brokers without the opportunity to witness the thrilling conclusion live.
The reason why stockbrokers cannot watch baseball while working is due to compliance and security issues. The rules at companies like Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp. and other foreign banks and domestic securities agencies prohibit brokers from watching sporting events during work hours to avoid potential unauthorized trades or information leaks.
Despite these limitations, the World Series between the Dodgers and Yankees attracted an average of 15.9 million viewers in Japan for the second game. In Tokyo, despite the time zone barrier, Japanese fans followed the game on television and the internet, creating an atmosphere of excitement around the event.
Ohtani's popularity, which this year has stood out for his skills as both a pitcher and a batter, has had a significant economic impact in the United States and Japan, estimated at about 116.8 billion yen (762 million dollars) according to Professor Emeritus Katsuhiro Miyamoto of Kansai University. Some brokers, while working, resort to news on their financial terminals to stay updated on the games, as noted by Motonari Sakai, director of the foreign exchange and financial products trading division of Mitsubishi UFJ Trust. Despite being unable to watch the games live, Sakai looks forward to learning the results at the end of the day.
