Japan trade watchdog probes baseball body over press pass revoking
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's antitrust watchdog is probing the country's professional baseball league over its temporary revocation of press passes for a TV station that aired recorded Major League Baseball World Series games during the same time slots as Japan series matches, sources close to the matter said Wednesday.
Nippon Professional Baseball Organization barred Fuji Television Network Inc. reporters from covering most of the Japan Series last year after the station aired a digest version of the Major League Baseball World Series game on Oct. 26 featuring Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani of Los Angeles Dodgers. It was Ohtani's first appearance in the World Series.
Fuji TV repeatedly aired Major League digest programs through the end of October, including during time slots that overlapped with other stations' broadcasts of Japan Series games.
NPB claimed that Fuji TV's broadcast of games from the rival baseball organization "severely damaged relations of trust," an association official said in November.
But the Japan Fair Trade Commission views NPB's decision as an interference in transactions, potentially discouraging business between Major League Baseball and Japanese broadcasters, the sources said.
NPB did not issue press passes to Fuji TV for other games involving Japan's national team in early November, barring the broadcaster's staff from entering stadiums and significantly limiting its coverage activities. The ban was lifted later that month.
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