Shohei Ohtani merchandise is prompting long lines — even in the rain — in Tokyo

TOKYO (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers gave Shohei Ohtani an unprecedented $700 million contract hoping to drive interest — and the dollars that come with it — from fans across the Pacific.

It seems to be working. He's the main attraction as the Dodgers and Chicago Cubs open the MLB regular season on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Tokyo Dome.

He's also producing off the field, the marquee name at a sprawling souvenir store that fills an exhibition hall in the Tokyo Dome complex.

MLB calls the setup its “largest ever special-event store.”

“Isn't it crazy?” said Lillian Izawa, who did a slow walk through the store, wedged between shoppers and shelves of souvenirs, most carrying Ohtani's name, face or No. 17.

Just as thousands of others, Izawa stood for an hour just to get in with fans three or four abreast in a twisting line entering the 30,000-square-foot store. She chose a sunny day. But the lines seemed to grow longer, even on a rainy Sunday in Tokyo.

The daily flow will only intensify as Tuesday's and Wednesday's games approach and both the Dodgers and MLB cash in on Ohtani, who signed a $700 million, 10-year deal last offseason.

Let’s call it a “Merch Museum” dedicated to Ohtani and his two Japanese teammates, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki, and the Dodgers. There’s even a small section for Chicago Cubs fans with most of the usual stuff — caps, jerseys, t-shirts and MLB knick-knacks.

“Japanese people will buy anything that's in a limited edition and hard to get, and they'll resell it," said Izawa, a Japanese American from Honolulu and a flight attendant with Hawaiian Airlines.

The souvenir shop illustrates that Ohtani might be intensifying the worldwide interest in baseball.

“This is an important series,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “It highlights that baseball is on a world stage, a world platform.”

Rosie Rosas, a Dodgers fans from San Diego, made the trip to Tokyo with her son to visit her husband who works in Japan. Tickets for the Dodgers-Cubs games were impossible. But shopping was not.

“It doesn't happen very often, games like this, and the Dodgers are champions,” Rosas said. "And the Japanese players we have are amazing.”

Ruby Yu and Nick Mah, two Canadians with roots in Hong Kong, traveled from Vancouver on vacation and made Ohtani part of the experience.

“Things are flying off the shelf,” said Ruby as Nick stood alongside with a bag full or goodies.

They paid $200 apiece for two tickets to Friday's exhibition game between the Hanshin Tigers and Chicago Cubs. The Tigers won 3-0. The least expensive tickets for the Dodgers-Cubs games are fetching about $1,500 on the secondary market.

“We knew the Japanese were huge baseball fans," Ruby said.

Wearing a blue Chicago jersey, Cubs fan Jason Umbreit was spending modestly in the souvenir shop, happy to have found a corner with Chicago merchandise.

“I knew it was going to be crowded, and this is the biggest shop I've ever seen," he said.

He's also among the most fortunate baseball fans on earth. He said he paid only $60 for a ticket for one of the Dodgers-Cubs games.

“I got the ticket when they went on sale,” he said. “I was lucky.”

The value of the Japanese yen has fallen drastically in relation to the dollar in the last 2 1/2 years. That means it has become very expensive for Japanese to travel to the United States. The yen buys fewer and fewer dollars, making American prices seem very high for Japanese. Conversely, tourists with dollars find Japan affordable.

It means this MLB shop is a useful opportunity for many Japanese fans to buy coveted Ohtani and Yamamoto merchandise. Most suggested the prices — though expensive — might be cheaper than they are in the United States.

Star Dodgers pitchers Yamamoto was asked his reaction to seeing thousands of fans wearing Dodgers garb, some with his name on the back. Or seeing his face on billboards, or inside massive souvenir store.

“I see the support from my fans and I’d like to turn it into positive energy and carry it to the mound,” he replied.

At the very high end, the store offers Dodgers white or blue jersey for about 75,000 yen — about $500. There are also other styles of Cubs and Dodgers jerseys for a bit less — about 25,000 yen — about $170.

Caps and t-shirt are among the favorites, many in the $30-50 range. There are key chains for about $18 and game programs for $20.

“I think the prices are reasonable,” Kohei Matsui said, a 21-year-old Japanese student. He described the crowds and shopping mayhem as "beyond what I expected.”

“Japanese all love baseball and Major League Baseball, and we want to see it once in our life," Matsui added. “This is the chance.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb

Baseball fans wait in line to get into an MLB souvenir store before the Tokyo Series exhibition games with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Chicago Cubs, the Yomiuri Giants and the Hanshin Tigers at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Baseball fans wait in line to get into an MLB souvenir store before the Tokyo Series exhibition games with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Chicago Cubs, the Yomiuri Giants and the Hanshin Tigers at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Baseball fans wait in line to get into an MLB souvenir store before the Tokyo Series exhibition games with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Chicago Cubs, the Yomiuri Giants and the Hanshin Tigers at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Baseball fans wait in line to get into an MLB souvenir store before the Tokyo Series exhibition games with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Chicago Cubs, the Yomiuri Giants and the Hanshin Tigers at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani, bottom center, bats against the Hanshin Tigers during the third inning in an MLB Japan Series exhibition baseball game, Sunday, March 16, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Buffalo Bills fans arrived early and lingered long after the game ended to bid what could be farewell to their long-time home stadium filled with 53 years of memories — and often piles of snow.

After singing along together to The Killers' “Mr. Brightside” in the closing minutes of a 35-8 victory against the New York Jets, most everyone in the crowd of 70,944 remained in their seats to bask in the glow of fireworks as Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World” played over the stadium speakers.

Several players stopped in the end zone to watch a retrospective video, with the Buffalo-based Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris” as the soundtrack while fans recorded selfie videos of the celebratory scene. Offensive lineman Alec Anderson even jumped into the crowd to pose for pictures before leaving the field.

With the Bills (12-5), the AFC's 6th seed, opening the playoffs at Jacksonville in the wild-card round next week, there's but a slim chance they'll play at their old home again. Next season, Buffalo is set to move into its new $1.2 billion facility being built across the street.

The farewell game evoked “a lifetime of memories,” said Therese Forton-Barnes, selected the team’s Fan of the Year, before the Bills kicked of their regular-season finale. “In our culture that we know and love, we can bond together from that experience. Our love for this team, our love for this city, have branched from those roots.”

Forton-Barnes, a past president of the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame, attended Bills games as a child at the old War Memorial Stadium in downtown Buffalo, colloquially known as “The Rockpile.” She has been a season ticket holder since Jim Kelly joined the Bills in 1986 at what was then Rich Stadium, later renamed for the team’s founding owner Ralph Wilson, and then corporate sponsors New Era and Highmark.

“I’ve been to over 350 games,” she said. “Today we’re here to cherish and celebrate the past, present and future. We have so many memories that you can’t erase at Rich Stadium, The Ralph, and now Highmark. Forever we will hold these memories when we move across the street.”

There was a celebratory mood to the day, with fans arriving early. Cars lined Abbott Road some 90 minutes before the stadium lots opened for a game the Bills rested most of their starters, with a brisk wind blowing in off of nearby Lake Erie and with temperatures dipping into the low 20s.

And most were in their seats when Bills owner Terry Pegula thanked fans and stadium workers in a pregame address.

With Buffalo leading 21-0 at halftime, many fans stayed in their seats as Kelly and fellow Pro Football Hall of Famer Andre Reed addressed them from the field, and the team played a video message from 100-year-old Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy.

“The fans have been unbelievable,” said Jack Hofstetter, a ticket-taker since the stadium opened in 1973 who was presented with Super Bowl tickets before Sunday’s game by Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield. “I was a kid making 8 bucks a game back in those days. I got to see all the sports, ushering in the stadium and taking tickets later on. All the memories, it’s been fantastic.”

Bud Light commemorated the stadium finale and Bills fan culture with the release of a special-edition beer brewed with melted snow shoveled out of the stadium earlier this season.

In what has become a winter tradition at the stadium, fans were hired to clear the stands after a lake-effect storm dropped more than a foot of snow on the region this week.

The few remaining shovelers were still present clearing the pathways and end zone stands of snow some five hours before kickoff. The new stadium won’t require as many shovelers, with the field heated and with more than two-thirds of the 60,000-plus seats covered by a curved roof overhang.

Fears of fans rushing the field were abated with large contingent of security personnel and backed by New York State troopers began lining the field during the final 2-minute warning.

Fans stayed in the stands, singing along to the music, with many lingering to take one last glimpse inside the stadium where the scoreboard broadcast one last message:

“Thank You, Bills Mafia.”

AP Sports Writer John Wawrow contributed.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Fans watch a ceremony after the Buffalo Bills beat the New York Jets in the Bills' final regular-season NFL football home game in Highmark Stadium Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)

Buffalo Bills cornerback Tre'Davious White (27) remains on the field to watch a tribute video after the Bills beat the New York Jets in the Bills' final regular-season NFL football home game in Highmark Stadium Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Orchard Park, N.Y.(AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)

Fans watch a ceremony after the Buffalo Bills beat the New York Jets in the Bills' final regular-season NFL football home game in Highmark Stadium Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)

Fans celebrate after the Buffalo Bills scored a touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Jets, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Fans celebrate and throw snow in the stands after an NFL football game between the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Aga Deters, right, and her husband Fred Deters, walk near Highmark Stadium before an NFL football game between the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Michael Wygant shoves snow from a tunnel before an NFL football game between the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets at Highmark Stadium, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Buffalo Bills offensive tackle Alec Anderson (70) spikes the ball after running back Ty Johnson scored a touchdown against the New York Jets in the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

FILE - The existing Highmark Stadium, foreground, frames the construction on the new Highmark Stadium, upper right, which is scheduled to open with the 2026 season, shown before an NFL football game between the Buffalo Bills and the New England Patriots, Oct. 5, 2025, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

Salt crew member Jim Earl sprinkles salt in the upper deck before an NFL football game between the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets at Highmark Stadium, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)