It’s a bit remarkable how difficult professional sports teams make it for fans to access their content. In the world of streaming services, you’d think it would’ve never been easier to watch your team’s events anytime and anywhere. As someone who has lived away from the Chicago-area for five years, MLBTV has been my lifeline. A T-Mobile login gets me free access to the platform, and I’m able to watch just about every White Sox game, except, of course, if they play Cincinnati or Atlanta, which are too close to Nashville to give me out-of-market access, apparently. Access to the games is great, but events are a different story, and the White Sox broadcast decisions on their latest press conference are a tough look, not just me for me, but for their thousands of new fans.

“White Sox nation, you guys are in my heart.”

Munetaka Murakami introduces himself to White Sox fans 🥹🫶 pic.twitter.com/mi7vli74vQ

— White Sox on CHSN (@CHSN_WhiteSox) December 22, 2025

The White Sox hosted a press conference Monday morning to introduce Japanese star Munetaka Murakami, who the team signed to a two-year deal this weekend. The press conference was broadcast exclusively on CHSN, the regional Chicago sports network that began carrying the White Sox at the beginning of the 2025 season. As I signed in to a CHSN account with an active subscription and tried to load up the stream, I was met with an error about being outside the viewing area. It turns out, whether you’re subscribed or not, CHSN is not available to stream outside the Chicago area.

Murakami’s signing will bring endless opportunity for the White Sox

At first, I was annoyed. I looked forward to watching the introduction of the White Sox biggest free-agent signing in years. After the initial annoyance wore off though, it turned to concern. Not for me or other Nashville-based Sox fans, but for the thousands of new fans in Japan who love Murakami and plan to follow his career. If Major League Baseball has learned anything from the rise of Japanese stars like Shohei Ohtani, Seiya Suzuki, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and others, it’s that Japanese baseball fans are loyal to their players. Since Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto joined the Los Angeles Dodgers prior to 2024, the Dodgers have landed an incredible amount of revenue from Japanese sponsorships. Forbes estimates that the Dodgers added roughly $30 million in new sponsorship revenue in 2025 alone, and the team is now sponsored by 20 different Japanese brands. For those keeping track, $30 million a year is more than the Dodgers are paying Shohei Ohtani, and those are just the new sponsorships from 2025. They’re quite literally making money on Ohtani after signing him for $700 million. Baseball has thrived in ways nobody expected with the emergence of Japanese superstars in the major leagues, and the White Sox now have a chance to benefit from this market.

Munetaka Murakami is the single-season home run leader among Japanese-born players in NPB history. His 56 home-run and triple crown season thrust him into superstardom in Japan, and he’ll no doubt bring a large following to the White Sox. It’s not a great first impression for new fans to render them unable to watch the introductory press conference because they’re not local. In the past, the White Sox have streamed press conferences on their Youtube channel, but since CHSN took over the broadcast, that is no longer the case. I’m not sure whether the blame falls on the White Sox organization or the network, but regardless, it’s a bad look.

In just a couple weeks, it’ll be 2026. It should be incredibly easy for fans all across the world to access their favorite sports team’s games, events, and highlights. The White Sox have an incredible opportunity to grow the fanbase in ways they’ve never before and they’re not off to a great start. For at least the next two years, the country of Japan will take a rooting interest in the White Sox, and the last thing the team needs is to make themselves harder to watch. To those in charge of the White Sox, I urge you to please do better.

It remains to be seen the impact that Murakami will have on the White Sox and their future, but it’s a remarkable step into a market that’s helped so many other teams thrive. The White Sox have the opportunity of a lifetime in front of them, and they’d better not screw it up.