Shohei Ohtani is coming home as a World Series champion, and demand for tickets to the Dodgers’ season-opening series in Tokyo is fierce.
Want one? The lowest-priced ticket available on StubHub as of Wednesday afternoon: $1,855 for the series opener next week; $1,352 for the second and final game, in both cases including fees. By the time you read this, those tickets might no longer be available.
If you live in Japan, the Dodgers offered a shortcut: Pay $500 to join their new fan club, securing the right to buy two tickets to one of the games.
On the day they signed Ohtani, the Dodgers declared their intention to paint Japan in Dodger blue. On the day they signed Roki Sasaki, they shared their plan for a Dodgers fan club in Japan.
“That is something Premier League and European soccer clubs already do, amassing international fans,” Dodgers president Stan Kasten said then. “We’re doing a pilot program to start that and see how it does.”
For now, the fan club offers four levels of membership. The top level — at about $500 per person, and sold out this year at 1,200 members — offered the chance to buy two tickets to a Tokyo Series game “on a first-come-first-served basis.”
Read more: Analysis: Why Dodgers don’t necessarily need Shohei Ohtani to pitch to start the season
Top level members also got what was billed as an “ultra rare collector’s item” — a ticket with Dodger Stadium dirt from the game in which the Dodgers clinched the National League West championship against the San Diego Padres. Ohtani had three hits in that game, including a double against countryman Yuki Matsui.
The other membership levels cost about $120, $100 and $45 annually. Of the four membership levels, the top three include Ohtani bobblehead dolls and other promotional items, plus discounts on Dodgers fan events in Japan. (Ohtani bobblehead dolls can sell for $100 or more on EBay. On the Dodgers’ website Wednesday, the cheapest ticket to the first Ohtani bobblehead night this season was $132.)
All fan club membership levels include discounts on tickets and merchandise at Dodger Stadium.
