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Toronto Blue Jays 'went rogue' with Japanese marketing ploy

Colton Pankiw
Colton Pankiw
|
Nov 24 2025, 10:43 pm
Toronto Blue Jays 'went rogue' with Japanese marketing ploy
@daisukesugiura/X

The Toronto Blue Jays are looking to capitalize on a 2025 season that saw them advance to the World Series for the first time in over 30 years.

The Blue Jays entered 2025 with low expectations, but wound up shocking the world. Not only did they top the AL with a 94-68 record, but they also wound up advancing all the way to the World Series after knocking off both the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners.

Now, the Blue Jays are looking to further improve their roster and overall popularity in hopes of more lengthy playoff runs in the future. That included a recent marketing ploy that may be ruffling some feathers within the league office.

This Monday, Blue Jays logos covered the mat in a world-title boxing match in Tokyo. It’s garnered plenty of attention, which is exactly what the organization was hoping to do. The issue, however, is that they reportedly didn’t have permission to do so.

A recent column from Evan Drellich and Mitch Bannon of The Athletic explains that not all MLB teams are able to place ads abroad without permission from the league office. Based on this new report, the Jays never received, nor asked for, such permission.

“The Blue Jays went rogue,” Drellich and Bannon wrote.

As per Drellich and Bannon, the MLB declined a response when asked for comment on the matter. The Blue Jays, meanwhile, said they were aware their logos would be present, while maintaining that it wasn’t a paid sponsorship.

“As I mentioned yesterday, tonight’s Nasukawa Tenshin vs. Inoue Takuma fight is sponsored by the Toronto Blue Jays,” reporter Daisuke Sugiura wrote on X (translated from Japanese to English with Google Translate). “It’s quite a novel sight to see the MLB team’s logo mark on the ring.”

The Blue Jays have lost out on several Japanese players in free-agency bids, most notably Shohei Ohtani, who was in discussions with the Jays but instead inked a 10-year deal with the LA Dodgers. They were then said to be in on Roki Sasaki last offseason, only to see him also agree to a deal with the Dodgers.

Overall, the Jays have had their fair share of struggles when it comes to landing Japanese players. It’s something they’re hoping to change, as they are being linked to both starting pitcher Tatsuya Imai and infielder Munetaka Murakami.

Perhaps this latest stunt from the Blue Jays will indeed help them in their attempts to land more Japanese talent. That said, they could wind up facing some form of punishment from the MLB as a result of their latest advertising effort.

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