After a decade of declining viewership, Major League Baseball (MLB) is turning to a new avenue to attract fans: Hololive VTubers. Viewership across the league had dropped by 15 percent between 2014-2023, prompting teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers to think outside the box.
The Dodgers have partnered with Gawr Gura, the most popular VTuber in the world. With her YouTube channel boasting 4.5 million subscribers, Gura has more followers than the Dodgers on YouTube and Instagram combined. The announcement of Friday’s promotion featuring Gura and two of her fellow avatars generated 3.4 million views on X, showcasing the potential of this collaboration.
Of the viewers of Gura’s YouTube Channel, half are 24 or younger, and nine in 10 are male. This demographic aligns well with the target audience for MLB, making the partnership a strategic move for the Dodgers. Pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who played in Japan’s Pacific League from 2017-2023, acknowledged the influence of Gura and her fellow avatars in promotions back home.
Max Kim, the U.S. sales and licensing director for Cover, the Japanese company that controls Gura and 85 other avatars, sees VTubing as a normal means of communication and entertainment. With over 82 million subscribers worldwide, these VTubers have a significant reach and appeal to a younger demographic that MLB is looking to engage.
In terms of ratings, the Yankees and Dodgers are leading MLB’s charge on FOX and ESPN. Fox recently saw a season-high of 2.91 million viewers during a game between the two teams, marking the highest turnout for a regular-season MLB broadcast since September 2022. This increase in viewership demonstrates the potential for VTubers to attract a wider audience to baseball.
“We have our interest: to expand in the U.S. market,” Kim stated, emphasizing the collaboration between VTubers and MLB teams as a strategic move to attract new fans. With the success of the Dodgers’ partnership with Gura, we may see more teams following suit and tapping into the world of VTubing to grow their fan base.
Overall, the integration of Hololive VTubers into MLB promotions signals a new era of entertainment and engagement for the sport. As streaming and online content continue to dominate the media landscape, leveraging the popularity of VTubers could be the key to revitalizing interest in baseball and attracting a younger, digital-savvy audience.
