The Los Angeles Dodgers have long been a global brand and franchise, and that now holds all the more true since their signing of Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto during the offseason.
Not only did the Dodgers add immense talent to their roster with Ohtani and Yamamoto, but the free agency splash came at an opportune time as the team already was scheduled to play against the San Diego Padres in the Seoul Series for Opening Day of the 2024 season.
The Dodgers were plenty popular in South Korea despite Ha-Seong Kim making his homecoming with the Padres.
Now it appears Ohtani and Yamamoto will get to take in that experience with the Dodgers expected to play the Chicago Cubs for Opening Day 2025 in Tokyo, Japan, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today:
The Chicago Cubs and Dodgers have been privately informed they have been selected to open the 2025 season in Tokyo.
The Dodgers previously had been reported as a favorite to start the 2025 season in Japan, though the team is yet to confirm as much. There had been some rumblings from South Korea that the Dodgers and Padre would reprise their Opening Series next year in Tokyo.
However, the Cubs would make for a more natural selection by MLB due to having Japanese natives Seiya Suzuki and Shota Imanaga on their roster.
Regardless of their opponent for a potential Tokyo Series to open the 2025 season, the Dodgers figure to play exhibition games as well, and one could come against the Nippon-Ham Fighters, Ohtani’s former team.
Where would Dodgers play in Japan?
If the Dodgers start the 2025 regular season in Japan, the expectation is games would be played at the Tokyo Dome. But
if the 2025 MLB World Tour takes the Dodgers to Japan for the start of the season and it includes an exhibition game against the Fighters, that likely would not come in the stadium Ohtani played in while starring in Hokkaido.
The Fighters moved into a new stadium last year, Es Con Field Hokkaido, which is in Kitahiroshima. The old Fighters stadium was located in the Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido.
Es Con Field is considered a state-of-the-art stadium that features a retractable roof and 35,000 seats.
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