For years, American sports have ruled the viewership charts. But lately, we are seeing something different. A big college relay race in Japan just proved that global attention is not one-sided anymore.

On January 2, the 102nd Hakone Ekiden, a two-day, 217.1 km road relay, pulled in 56.2 million viewers. That number was slightly higher than the 2025 broadcast, with a lead of nearly 800,000 viewers. And when you place those figures next to the 2025 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays, the comparison gets even more interesting.

Day 1 drew an average of 16.5 million viewers, which swelled to 18 million on Day 2 for a combined average of 17.3 million over the course of two days. But the drama on the course even translated into ratings.

The peak for Day One (33.7%) came when Aoyama Gakuin University’s Asahi Kuroda overtook Shinsaku Kudo of Waseda University near the end of the uphill Fifth Stage. However, the overall peak (34.7%) hit the next morning when Aoi Ito of Komazawa University ran the downhill Sixth Stage in 56:50, the second-fastest time ever for that leg. Any guess about individual day ratings? Well, it was 17.0% for day one and 18.4% for day two.

The rivalry heated the screen, but another comparison was already waiting.

For comparison, the 2025 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays drew very strong numbers. The average viewership per game across all broadcasters (Fox Sports channels plus simulcasts) in the U.S. was 16.1 million.

With international viewers in both Canada (Sportsnet) and Japan (NHK networks), the average viewership internationally increased to approximately 17.9 million per game. Contextually, the number of viewers of Hakone Ekiden at 17.3 million was nearly equal to the global average audience of one of the major baseball championships.

At the end of the relay, Aoyama Gakuin University secured its second three-peat and its ninth victory in 12 years, in a record time of 10 hours, 37 minutes, and 34 seconds. But their success is just a portion of a much larger tale that is played out every New Year.

A relay that grew bigger on TV with every passing year

Japan’s Hakone Ekiden has quietly made a name for itself domestically, drawing viewers every New Year like clockwork. For over 10 years, the TV audiences on each of the race days have ranged between 25 and 30%, which makes it one of the biggest sporting traditions in the country. And it got even stronger in 2021. With empty stadiums and fans urged to rally from the home front, the event reached nearly 65 million viewers, going above 30 percent household ratings on both days.

With this, it became one of Japan’s biggest sports broadcasts in modern TV history. Then came 2023, where the race climbed again, hitting 35 percent peaks during key relay handoffs, and holding strong broadcast averages close to 28 to 29 percent.  Then, in the 2024 race, ratings kept growing around 28.3%.

And now, 2026 has taken the discourse to new heights. With it, the relay earns a spot in global sports comparisons, not just to MLB games but also in U.S. sports.

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For example, the 2025 NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers drew 10.26 million viewers per contest, with Game 7 peaking at 16.1 million on ABC and ESPN+.

Even the 2025 NCAA men’s basketball championship game between Florida and Houston had 18.1 million viewers on CBS. Those competitions were massive. However, when the 2026 average viewership of 17.3 million of Hakone Ekiden on two days was put in the same perspective, it suddenly appeared like a race that could compete with the giants, although the sport was entirely different.