PASADENA, Calif. — Shohei Ohtani won The Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for the fourth time, tying with Lance Armstrong, LeBron James and Tiger Woods for most among male honorees.

Ohtani received 29 of 47 votes in balloting among sports journalists from the AP and its members. The AP award has been given out since 1931.

The Japanese baseball superstar’s two-way dominance culminated in a repeat World Series title for his Los Angeles Dodgers. Among Ohtani’s goals for 2026 are staying healthy so he can play in every game and to keep working on his English-speaking skills so he bridge the gap with his U.S. fans.

Big ratings for Prime game

LOS ANGELES — The Detroit Lions’ 44-30 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Dec. 4 averaged 19.39 million viewers, making it the most-watched “Thursday Night Football” broadcast in Amazon Prime Video’s four seasons streaming those games.

The previous mark for a Thursday game on the streaming service was 17.76 million earlier this season for the Washington Commanders-Green Bay Packers game on Sept. 11.

Last Thursday’s game peaked at 22.18 million. It also was a 12% increase over last year’s week-after-Thanksgiving game between the Lions and Packers, which averaged 17.29 million.

Prime Video is averaging 15.20 million viewers for “Thursday Night Football,” a 15% jump over last season’s average of 13.20 million.

Prime Video’s Black Friday game between the Chicago Bears and Philadelphia Eagles averaged 16.33 million.

Some of the increase can be attributed to a change in the way viewers are counted. Nielsen began using its Big Data

The Associated Press