Japanese baseball had trouble finding broadcast partners for the 2010 Japan Series between the Chiba Lotte Marines and Chunichi Dragons. That was a perplexing turn of events in a nation where the sport is king.
Now, try to imagine a scenario these days in which there was no broadcast coverage of the World Series in the U.S. Even this season's matchup between the San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers, neither among the majors' glamour franchises, was readily available to baseball fans across the U.S.
By comparison, to not have every Japan Series game on terrestrial channels (TV and radio revenue was down ¥55 million) had to be distressing for NPB officials.