Anime Is a Hit at Baseball Games

Major League Baseball and its teams, whose 2025 season began late last month, have been increasingly teaming with a variety of Japanese pop-culture properties for products and promotions. Japanese-origin IPs from the worlds of anime, kawaii, videogames, and VTubers are a good fit with the sport in many ways. The league and its teams, especially on the U.S. west coast, have been making an effort to appeal to large local communities of residents with Japanese and other Asian heritage, and the league has a growing number of players from Japan, including some of its biggest stars. Of course these properties have become universally popular with fans of all types, including many of the league’s players, making the collaborations fun for all. 

Attendance at MLB games has been growing in recent years, after over a decade’s worth of declines, according to Sports Business Journal research, and TV and streaming viewership has also been on the rise. Collaborations such as the examples below, from this season and last, can boost interest in specific games, which can in turn perhaps create a few new fans for the sport long-term:  

• MLB paired with Aniplex of America this year for a Demon Slayer collaboration in conjunction with its MLB World Tour: Tokyo Series, featuring preseason games between two Japanese clubs, the Hanshin Tigers and Yomiuri Giants, and season-opening games between MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs, all in Tokyo. The league teased the series with an anime short featuring the characters of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba along with animated versions of Japanese MLB players such as Shohei Ohtani and Shota Imanaga. Collaborative merchandise was also available for a limited time, including t-shirts featuring images from the short. 

• The Seattle Mariners paired this month with Toei Animation for a One Piece-themed night. A limited-edition t-shirt was part of the promotion, along with property-related activities throughout the nine innings, including a demonstration of Bandai’s One Piece card game. One Piece has also been involved in collaborations with National Football League and National Basketball Association teams. 

• The Boston Red Sox also are featuring One Piece in May of this year, representing a second promotion for the two after a successful partnership in 2024. This year, ticketholders will receive a collaborative jersey, while VIP ticketholders will receive the jersey and a Red Sox x One Piece baseball hat. In addition, the game will incorporate entertainment content and other activations. Last year’s collaboration included a cosplay, a limited-edition bobblehead of the One Piece character Monkey D. Luffy in a Red Sox uniform, and a pregame concert by Magnificant Danger, known for its performances of songs from videogames and anime. 

• In February, MLB teamed with Pokémon gaming licensee Niantic for a three-year deal that brings Pokémon Go to stadiums across the country. Each ballpark features team-branded PokéStops and Gyms, as well as special Routes, with rewards upon completion. Special family-friendly game nights will also take place at 13 ballparks throughout the season, with digital team-branded baseball caps for use within Pokémon Go, timed research missions, and ballpark backgrounds available for Pikachu. 

• Last June, the Los Angeles Dodgers worked with Hololive, the marketer and distributor of VTuber content, on Hololive Night. VTubers Hoshimachi Suisei, Usada Pekora, and Gawr Gura were involved, making announcements over the public address system during the game and singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the seventh-inning stretch. Photo ops, a drone show, special trading cards showing the three VTubers’ avatars in Dodgers uniforms, and collaborative merchandise were also part of the venture. VTubers are influencers whose online personas are animated characters rather than their human likenesses. 

• The Texas Rangers collaborated with Crunchyroll and Shueisha for My Hero Academia Night in fall 2024. The festivities included a themed jersey giveaway for ticketholders and discount tickets for fans using the code word “anime,” among other components. 

• The San Francisco Giants joined Viz last August for an Anime Day highlighting the series Naruto Shippuden. Attendees received a white and orange collaborative jersey featuring Naruto and Giants imagery, along with the opportunity to experience other themed activities during the game. 

• The L.A. Dodgers hosted a return visit from Hello Kitty, a frequent collaborator with baseball teams and other sports clubs and leagues around the world, in August 2024. A game-day “birthday party,” in honor of Hello Kitty’s 50th anniversary, included the character mascot (in a Dodgers uniform) throwing out the first pitch, a collaborative plush giveaway, paper crowns to be customized at a decoration station, Hello Kitty trivia, a Friendship Cam, and a birthday cake presentation. 

Not surprisingly, anime properties have been frequent collaborators with baseball teams in their home region of Japan over the years, with initiatives typically including collaborative products such as jerseys and fan novelties, as well as a variety of other promotional and experiential elements. A handful of examples include Hololive partnering with the Japanese Pacific Baseball League and six of its teams; My Hero Academia teaming with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks and Yomiuri Giants, among others; Re:Zero, Haruhi Suzumiya, and Konosuba pairing with the Hanshin Tigers; Hololive, Sword Art Online (SAO) Progressive, and Jujutsu Kaisen working with the Yomiuri Giants; and Attack on Titan being featured by the Softbank Hawks. 

It should be noted that anime IP owners have also been increasingly teaming with sports clubs outside of baseball, from basketball to football/soccer and beyond.