Fumihide Oda, the company’s CEO, already had a quiet life Rokkateiconsidered one of the oldest confectionery shops in Hokkaido, Japan and the birthplace of the popular Marusei butter cookies.
This summer, Mr. Oda predicts life will get even sweeter. He and his wife and two other couples – including his sister and her husband – will take their 4 children to Oakland, California, to experience firsthand one other prized Hokkaido export: Shohei Ohtani.
This is the family’s first trip abroad, during which they meet Mr. Ohtani. This will even be the kid’s first visit to the United States.
“We have decided to go to California now because we want to see Ohtani in a Dodgers jersey!” Mr. Oda, 45, wrote in an email.
In a surprise move, the family will open the first Rokkatei store in Southern California this summer. This gave them the perfect excuse to search out a option to meet Mr. Ohtani, whose developing skills as a star hitter and pitcher led to him signing an outrageous and record-breaking 10-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers – the largest contract in North American sports history.
“We are very, very excited that this happened the same year that Mr. Ohtani will be playing for the Dodgers,” said Mr. Oda, whose grandfather founded Rokkatei under a special name in the Nineteen Thirties.
With the latest baseball season upon us following Mr. Ohtani’s move from the Los Angeles Angels to the Dodgers this winter, travel stories like Mr. Oda’s will proceed to seem throughout the season. Having been stuck with an insignificant team throughout his Major League Baseball profession, Mr. Ohtani joined a famous franchise full of other stars, the particular goal of which was to win the team an eighth World Series title.
Anticipating unprecedented interest in Mr. Ohtani and the Dodgers – especially from Mr. Ohtani’s native Japan – Major League Baseball has entered right into a multi-year partnership with JTB Corp., the largest travel agency in Japan. To gain momentum, JTB has offered international travel packages for the season opener between the Dodgers and San Diego Padres starting Wednesday in Seoul. The company intends to make further packages for normal season matches available in the United States as well.
Travel packages, catering to each casual and more passionate fans, are expected to incorporate airfare, hotel accommodation, hotel-to-stadium transportation, pre-match tours and merchandise.
“We think we’ve reached a level where even people who wouldn’t consider traveling abroad to watch baseball are now interested in going to the stadium,” said Kaori Mori, who is a part of JTB’s communications and branding team. “In fact, we send out a regular email newsletter about travel to watch sports, and within two weeks of learning about the MLB partnership, registered members increased by 110 percent.”
From Hideo Nomo, who was a sensation for the Dodgers in the Nineties, to Ichiro Suzuki, a Seattle Mariners icon who will likely be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame next 12 months, players from Japan have repeatedly achieved success and recognition in the United States. However, in accordance with Ms. Mori, previous stars “have attracted a lot of attention, but this time Ohtani’s popularity has exceeded anyone’s imagination.”
Ohtani’s tumor is also clearly felt in the United States. According to ticketing website SeatGeek, an official MLB partner, on the last day of February, the Dodgers’ March 28 home game against St. Louis was the most sought-after game on opening day, with a mean resale price of $567 per ticket. . That’s 38 percent greater than the next most sought-after opener (Cubs at Texas).
“Going from the Angels to the Dodgers, people think, ‘Oh, it’s the same market,’ but the Dodgers are on a different level in terms of the size of the MLB fan base, and to play for your old club with that level of hype is something of a great combination,” Chris Leyden said , director of growth marketing at SeatGeek. “It’s interesting because in baseball it’s harder to see the impact of an individual player, partly because if he’s not a pitcher he might only get four or five at-bats a game, and if there’s a designated hitter he might get four at-bats a game, and they don’t play on the field.
When it comes to other sports like basketball, Leyden said individual players like LeBron James and Stephen Curry can dramatically increase single-game ticket prices, sometimes even doubling them. But in baseball, you usually need something historic. Consider Aaron Judge’s quest to break Roger Maris’ single-season American League record in 2022, which led to the Yankees’ stock rising 36 percent as he fell one homer short.
“We often see that the impact of an incident is greater on the road than on home turf,” Leyden said. “It’s pretty much basic supply and demand. LeBron will play 41 games at home, but I can only see him once in Charlotte.
With a series of three or four games at each stop, baseball has an advantage over other sports because fans usually have more than one opportunity to see a competing star when his team comes to town. For those fans hoping to meet the Dodgers and Mr. Ohtani in person this summer, the team’s travel schedule creates creative opportunities.
For example, the Oda group is going to Oakland in August for strategic reasons. The Dodgers have led the National League in attendance each of the last 11 seasons, attracting 3.8 million fans in each of the last two seasons.
“Since we will be traveling in a group of 10, we were unable to get good seats at Dodger Stadium,” Mr. Oda said. “So we decided to see it in Oakland because it was easier to get tickets.”
He hopes they may get a more in-depth have a look at Mr. Ohtani, who played for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan before leaving for the MLB. In Oakland, where the stadium is mainly known for its huge fan base, this should not be an issue. empty seats.
As MLB looks to expand its reach, each internationally and amongst younger generations, Mr. Ohtani’s immense popularity could play an enormous role.
Osuke Ishiguro, general manager of JTB’s Los Angeles office, said considered one of the things he has noticed as the company makes summer travel planning easier is that “a lot of tourists coming from Japan are not only baseball fans, but they bring a lot of children.” In particular, he said, many grandparents bring their grandchildren “wanting to show them what baseball can do.”
Mr. Oda said his group’s upcoming trip simply means more to them now that Mr. Ohtani is playing for considered one of baseball’s most famous teams than it could have been had he played for the Angels.
“We want him to be challenged in a new field,” said Mr. Oda, whose group includes children ages 10, 7, 6 and 4. “We hope to see the Dodgers bring out Ohtani’s maximum potential and we would love to see him push his limits!”
