"Canceled Immediately Out of Anger": Japanese Fans Rush to Cancel Netflix Subscriptions After WBC Loss?What Happened?

After the Japanese national baseball team, which was aiming for its second consecutive World Baseball Classic (WBC) title in 2026, was eliminated in the quarterfinals, a unique phenomenon unfolded online in Japan: a growing wave of users canceling their Netflix subscriptions.

On March 15, Japanese media outlets such as Nikkan Sports and Sponichi reported that the national team ended its tournament run after losing 5-8 to Venezuela in the WBC quarterfinals at LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida, USA.

In this tournament, Japan assembled top Major League Baseball players such as Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, making them strong favorites for the championship. However, they were eliminated earlier than expected, causing a significant shock to Japanese baseball fans. Photo by AP Yonhap News

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For this tournament, Japan assembled top Major League Baseball players such as Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, making them strong favorites for the championship. However, their earlier-than-expected elimination came as a significant shock to Japanese baseball fans. Immediately after the game, a surge of posts related to canceling Netflix subscriptions appeared on Japanese social networking services (SNS). Some fans shared screenshots of their cancellation pages to express their disappointment over the loss.

Comments online included, "I subscribed to Netflix just to watch the WBC, but now that Japan lost, I'm canceling," "Japan is out, so my Netflix subscription is ending too," and "I was so angry that I canceled right away."

On the other hand, there were also lighthearted reactions such as, "Canceling now is the least efficient thing to do," and "I should watch all the dramas and movies I wanted to see before canceling." Local media are interpreting this as a kind of happening sparked by the disappointment of Japanese fans.

This phenomenon is not unrelated to the fact that Netflix held the exclusive broadcasting rights for all WBC games in Japan. Netflix secured the rights to broadcast all 47 games of the tournament within Japan. Japanese terrestrial broadcasters, which had previously covered the WBC, were outbid for the broadcasting rights and were unable to air this tournament. According to the Mainichi Shimbun, the fee Netflix paid for the WBC broadcasting rights in Japan was about 15 billion yen (approximately 140 billion won), five times higher than the previous tournament’s 3 billion yen fee. As a result, debate is spreading in Japan over whether it is appropriate for major sporting events of national interest to be available only on paid platforms.

Netflix has secured the exclusive broadcasting rights for all 47 games within Japan for this tournament. Japanese terrestrial broadcasters, which had previously covered the World Baseball Classic, lost out in the competition for broadcasting rights and will not be covering this tournament. NETFLIX JAPAN

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Meanwhile, in some European countries, a "universal access" system is in place, allowing major sporting events like the World Cup or the Olympics to be broadcast for free. Since Japan has no such system, there is speculation that the exclusive WBC broadcast could spark a full-fledged discussion about introducing such regulations.

Recently, global online video services (OTT) have been pouring massive amounts of capital into acquiring sports broadcasting rights, fueling fierce competition with traditional broadcasters. The situation in Japan is a clear example of the sports broadcasting market shifting toward OTT platforms.

This debate has already emerged in Korea as well. Recently, controversy arose when JTBC, a comprehensive programming channel, secured exclusive broadcasting rights for the 2026 Milano-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics. Concerns were raised that, with JTBC holding the Olympics broadcast rights, major events might only be viewable on a specific channel rather than on terrestrial television.

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