Ochiai Hiromitsu Gets ¥2M for Samurai Japan Commentary on Amazon Prime

Over 10 Times More Than Terrestrial TV

A sports producer from a Tokyo-based TV station remarked, “I think they did well with the casting.”

“It is possible to offer to Ochiai, but the problem lies beyond that. He will always ask, ‘How much preparation are you going to provide?’ In other words, he won’t accept a job for a low fee. Also, it’s difficult to get him involved unless his wife, Nobuko, agrees.”

The Samurai Japan game on the 9th was exclusively streamed live on Prime Video, a platform known for offering significantly higher fees in the sports genre. There were even rumors that Ochiai’s fee was ¥2 million. In contrast, the fees for terrestrial TV broadcasts range from ¥50,000 to ¥100,000, or at most a few hundred thousand yen, so they simply can’t compete.”

Prime Video started streaming game broadcasts from the “World Baseball Classic” held last spring. For games not broadcast on terrestrial TV, they provided exclusive streams, sometimes ironically airing commercials for those games on terrestrial TV.

“During the previous WBC broadcast, Sadaharu Oh (84), the chairman of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and the first WBC manager, made a guest appearance as a commentator, sparking a lot of attention. Looking ahead to the ‘Premier 12’ and the 2026 WBC in the spring, Prime Video is naturally aiming to acquire the broadcasting rights. It’s rumored that Ichiro (51) and Hideki Matsui (50), both WBC veterans, might be commentators. A fixer, Mr. X, who is well-versed in both the pro and amateur baseball worlds as well as broadcasting, is reportedly working on the casting.”

The departure of baseball from terrestrial TV seems to be advancing at an unexpectedly rapid pace.