Two historic franchises in the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers, have reportedly been privately informed that they will begin the 2025 season with a series in Japan. This was first noted by Bob Nightengale at USATODAY.
The 2025 Season Will Begin in Japan and Will Feature the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers
Major League Baseball has a history of trying to expand the game globally and that trend reportedly will continue in 2025. Bob Nightengale did not reveal any dates for the series, nor did he indicate which stadium they will play at, but if the same timeline is used from this year, then this series will likely take place a week before Opening Day in the United States.
The Los Angeles Dodgers Opened the 2024 season in Seoul, South Korea
To kick off the 2024 regular season, the Dodgers and San Diego Padres played a two-game series in Seoul. These games counted as regular season games, in which each team won a game.
Before this matchup began, each team played the Korean National team in the Gocheok Sky Dome. After the series concluded, both the Dodgers and Padres returned to the United States and resumed exhibition Spring Training games.
Why Is Major League Baseball playing regular season games overseas?
As highlighted above, this year, the Dodgers and San Diego Padres kicked off the regular season in Seoul, South Korea. Before 2024 the last time a season started overseas was 2019 when the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics played in Toyko. A decade ago, in 2014, Major League Baseball began the regular season with a series in Australia.
With the Dodgers having two big Japanese stars, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani, on their roster and the Cubs having Seiya Suzuki under contract, the matchup makes the most sense in MLB.
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