For the second consecutive year, Major League Baseball will open its regular season overseas.
On March 18 and 19, about one week prior to most teams beginning their seasons, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs will play a two-game series at the Tokyo Dome in Japan, marking the sixth time in league history that the regular season opener will be played in the baseball-crazed country.
Awful Announcing can confirm that both games will air live across Fox Sports properties, per a source familiar with the network’s plans. Game 1 will air at 6 a.m. ET on Fox and Fox Deportes, preempting local news programming on the East Coast. Game 2 will air at 6 a.m. ET on FS1 and Fox Deportes.
Both games will also air on the two respective regional sports networks; Spectrum SportsNet LA for the Dodgers and Marquee Sports Network for the Cubs.
The Tokyo Series will mark a homecoming of sorts for the league’s biggest star, Shohei Ohtani. The reigning NL MVP and World Series champion, Ohtani will play his first ever MLB games in his home country. The Dodgers opened their season last year in nearby Seoul, South Korea, where Ohtani’s star was apparent, even outside his native Japan.
Last year’s Seoul Series was televised by ESPN, who also aired international games in Mexico City and London later on in the season. There are no other international games planned this season outside of the Tokyo Series.
While the television window is certainly unconventional for the American audience given the timezone difference, the opportunity to see a generational talent like Ohtani compete in a meaningful game in his home country will likely have some baseball fans waking up early (or staying up late) to catch a glimpse of history.
