The business arm of the MLB players’ union is making its first foray into Japan with a pop-up shop in Tokyo featuring limited edition merchandise.
The pop-up shop, via MLB Players, Inc. and next-generation authenticator The Realest, will be featured Thursday-Monday in the Shibuya section of Tokyo, featuring player-licensed collectibles and artwork curated by Saya Nomura of Japan’s Nomura baseball family. Vinyl records, jerseys and other merch will only be available in-store.
Evan Kaplan, President of MLB Players, Inc., said the pop-up won’t be profitable this time around, but the goal is to test the waters, with an eye on creating something much bigger in the baseball-adoring country.
“We’re just trying to create and determine what works and what doesn’t, but we do have big plans for it. Because if it goes as well as we hope, we expect to make a big splash early next year,” Kaplan told SBJ.
Kaplan’s business interest in Japan was piqued during the MLB Tokyo Series between the Dodgers and Cubs to kick of the 2025 season. Fanatics said it sold $40M worth of fan merchandise and trading cards during the two-day event.
“I started talking to people because I didn’t know much about the retail infrastructure in Japan,” Kaplan said.
One of those people was Scott Keeney (aka DJ Skee), founder of The Realest. The two met at Keeney’s Los Angeles office in June. A month later, Keeney told Kaplan he and his partners had a plan.
“It’s very art-driven, it’s very relevant to the Japanese baseball fan,” Kaplan said. “International is a big opportunity for us and we’re figuring out how to take advantage of it and give baseball fans in Japan something that they really otherwise wouldn’t have access to.”
Kaplan said there is no urgency on the project amid MLB’s labor uncertainty heading into the last year of the current collective bargaining agreement.
“It’s in the back of our minds everyday, but it’s not about this project,” Kaplan said. “Our mission here at MLB Players Inc. is to support the players and the union through our commercial interest.”
The collection will then be available in the US on Oct. 23 via The Realest website.
AloJapan.com