Japanese media expressed regret over the reality that it is difficult for their country’s fans to intuitively watch the ‘MLB World Tour Seoul Series 2024 Presented By Coupang Play’

which will be held at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul in March. .

Nikkan Sports, a Japanese sports media outlet, said on the 16th, “The LA Dodgers of Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the San Diego Padres of Yu Darvish and Yuki Matsui will face each other in Seoul on March 20-21.

Tickets for this game are available.” “It seems very difficult to purchase in Japan. According to Korean media reports 지울프-토토

reservations will begin on the 26th, but only paid members of the video transmission service (Coupang Play) operated by Internet shopping mall Coupang can purchase,” the report said.

On the 11th, the U.S. Major League Baseball Secretariat announced the opening times for this year’s pennant race games for 30 big league teams. 

In the case of the LA Dodgers and San Diego Padres, the opening two-game series of the 2024 season will be played at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, Korea, rather than on the U.S. mainland.

This is the first time that an official major league game is being held in Korea. 

While the Major League Baseball Secretariat is holding opening games around the world to globalize baseball and promote Major League Baseball, it early confirmed that the official opening game of the 2024 season will be held in Korea in July of last year.

When the opening game between the LA Dodgers and the San Diego Padres in Seoul was first announced

the biggest issue was Kim Ha-seong’s return to Gocheok from San Diego.

Ha-seong Kim started his professional career by joining Kiwoom Heroes in 2014, and then played in Gocheok for five seasons until 2020

with the team using Gocheok Sky Dome as its home stadium from the 2016 season.

Ha-seong Kim especially performed well in the 2020 season, which was his final year in the KBO League, with a batting average of 0.306, 163 hits

30 home runs, 109 RBI, and 23 stolen bases in 138 games. Following Haitai (now KIA) Lee Jong-beom (30 home runs)

in 1997 and Kiwoom Kang Jeong-ho (40 home runs) in 2014, he became the third KBO shortstop to reach 30 home runs in a single season.

Ha-seong Kim signed a contract with San Diego through the posting system for the 2021 season and succeeded in advancing to the major leagues.

In the 2023 season, he not only showed off his ability as a hot hitter with a batting average of 0.260, 140 hits, 17 home runs, 60 RBI, and 38 stolen bases in 152 games

but also showed off the best infield defense skills in the major league. He became the first Asian infielder to win the Gold Glove (utility category) and has grown into a player who attracts attention throughout the big league.

The opening game of the 2024 season between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres at Gocheok Sky Dome

which thrilled Korean fans, has grown rapidly in the past month. 

As the LA Dodgers welcomed the ‘700 Million Dollar Man’ Shohei Ohtani, the world began to pay attention to Seoul.

Shohei Ohtani signed a contract with the Los Angeles Angels in the 2018 season and entered the major league,

then qualified as a free agent for the first time in his career after the end of the 2023 season. 

As he was evaluated as the best player in Major League history due to his skills and star quality, he was courted by numerous big market clubs.

The LA Dodgers invested a total of $700 million (about KRW 935.9 billion) on a 10-year contract to recruit Ohtani. 

The largest contract was signed not only in the Major League, but also in North American professional sports and in all professional sports around the world.

Ohtani was not satisfied with the LA Dodgers’ wide-ranging performance. A whopping $325 million (approximately KRW 434.5 billion) was bet on right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto

who dominated Japanese professional baseball, and the recruitment was successful.

Even before Yamamoto entered the major league stage, he broke the record for the largest free agent contract ever signed by a major league pitcher.

The Japanese media could not hide their excitement over the fact that the best players of all time, the pride of Japanese baseball

were having a meal together at the Los Angeles Dodgers. Coincidentally, with Otani and Yamamoto’s first major league game taking place in neighboring Korea, Japanese fans also had the opportunity to watch the two play in front of their eyes.

In addition, another living legend from Japan, Yu Darvish, is playing as an ace in San Diego. In the offseason, Yuki Matsui

the best closing pitcher in Japanese professional baseball, and closer Ko Woo-seok, who helped the LG Twins win the Korean Series for the first time in 29 years last year, joined the team, making it possible to see a rare sight of four Asian players playing at the same time.

However, it appears that it will not be easy for Japanese fans to enjoy the MLB Seoul Series at Gocheok Sky Dome.

Gocheok Sky Dome, which opened in November 2015, has a small maximum capacity of 16,000 seats.

Compared to Tokyo Dome, which can accommodate up to 46,000 people, it is very small in size, making it more difficult to secure tickets than other stadiums.

Ticket sales for the ‘MLB World Tour Seoul Series 2024’ game will be held only through the OTT platform Coupang Play starting on the 26th.

Details about tickets and games will also be released on Coupang Play.

Coupang Play is a benefit provided to members of the online shopping mall Coupang Wow.

Game ticket sales are provided as a privilege to Coupang Wow members.