Tokyo Series Details: Dodgers Ownership as Presenting Sponsor

Blake Williams/DodgerBlue.com

What had long been anticipated became official on Thursday when MLB announced that the Los Angeles Dodgers would participate in the Tokyo Series to kick off the 2025 regular season.

It will be the third time in Dodgers franchise history that the team has played overseas, and the clash with the Chicago Cubs will be their second consecutive year playing in Asia. The Dodgers were also part of the Mexico Series in 2018.

The Tokyo Series is the newest edition and expansion of the annual MLB World Tour.

Last season’s MLB World Tour consisted of Spring Training games in the Dominican Republic, the Seoul Series, the Mexico City Series and the London Series.

Further details regarding the 2025 MLB World Tour, including team pairings, are expected to be announced at a later date.

MLB returns to Japan on the 25th anniversary of the league’s first games in the country, when the Cubs played the New York Mets at the Tokyo Dome in 2000.

In total, the 2025 Tokyo Series will be the sixth MLB games played in Japan.

While the Dodgers – and the Cubs, for that matter – were a logical choice to start the 2025 regular season in Japan, Guggenheim was not necessarily expected to enter into an official partnership with the league.

The global investment and advisory firm, which is also the majority owner of the Dodgers, is the main sponsor of the MLB’s Tokyo Series.

“The Tokyo Series presented by Guggenheim provides us with a unique opportunity to introduce our passionate fans across this country to great Japanese players in their home country,” said Noah Garden, MLB’s deputy commissioner for business and media, in a statement.

“Our new partnership with Guggenheim will help us increase the impact of the event as MLB’s popularity in Japan continues to grow rapidly.”

As part of the agreement, the company will receive extensive brand placement at the 2025 Tokyo Series presented by Guggenheim, including the event logo that will appear in advertising and promotions for the event, and will continue to use a sleeve patch on Dodgers uniforms that was first introduced for the 2024 season.

Guggenheim will also receive worldwide advertising rights for the Tokyo Series, including television billboards, in-stadium presence and premium hospitality opportunities.

Guggenheim purchased the Dodgers in 2012 from former owner Frank McCourt.

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