While you’ve heard lots of stories about the superstars of this year’s World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays, have you also heard about the fun wagers?
As a Los Angeles native, I’ve heard about them and would like to share, especially since all have a marketing impact on tourism, commerce, personal branding, brand identity, brand advocacy - or a combination of some or all.
First, here's a fun fact: 2025 was the first year in Major League Baseball history that the season started and ended outside of the United States. The Los Angeles Dodgers began the season in Tokyo, Japan with two games against the Chicago Cubs, and the Dodgers also ended the season with two games in Toronto, Canada against the Blue Jays.
And now on to some friendly wagers regarding the World Series:
MAYORS
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow wagered that the losing city's major would have to bike a distance equal to the number of winning runs in the final game while wearing the winning team's jersey. (The winning number of runs turned out to be 5.)
GOVERNORS
California Governor Gavin Newsom and Ontario Premier Doug Ford placed a friendly wager. The loser must send the winner a basket of local goods.
On a related note, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said that US President Donald Trump avoided his calls ending a potential bet on the World Series.
POLICE CHIEFS
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell and Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw bet that the losing chief must post a photo wearing the opposing team's jersey.
ZOOS
The Los Angeles Zoo and the Toronto Zoo made a friendly wager on the World Series. If a Dodgers victory, the Toronto Zoo would replace its logo with a California condor for 24 hours, and if a Blue Jays victory, the LA Zoo would replace its logo with a blue jay for 24 hours.
MEDIA
Toronto's CityNews 247 and Los Angeles' KTLA5 announced a friendly wager where the losing news team would have to wear the winning team's gear on social media.
PUBLIC LIBRARIES
The Los Angeles Public Library and the Toronto Public Library did not make a wager on the World Series outcome, but instead, shared memorable daily social media posts. I followed the posts on Twitter/X and was very impressed. Each LA Public Library post featured an LA Dodgers cap atop books that related to each game's outcome - and most included a library card.
The Toronto Public Library posted after the second game in Toronto, "Flying south for the win(ter)" and included a stack of books with these titles: My Home Team, Baseball Beyond Our Borders, Boldly Go, and Los Angeles Today.
During the epic 18-inning win by the Dodgers, the LA Public Library's chosen books included: Fight Back, Wake Up Calls, Resilience, and more. And then, at the conclusion of that game, the LA Public Library's chosen books included: A Game of Their Own, A Familiar Sight, Thrill City, and The Dodgers.
Upon returning to Toronto for Game 6, the Toronto Public Library shared a Blue Jays jersey with the books: The Best Team Money Can Buy, Bring Yourself, Any Night of the Week, and It Will End with Us. I especially liked the post's excellent hashtag #BookSpinePoetry.
After the 7th and final World Series Game, the Toronto Public Library shared a Blue Jays helmet atop the books: The Final Curtain, Victorious in Defeat, LA Story, I Curse You With Joy, and This Time Next Year, We'll Be Laughing. The LA Public Library shared a Dodgers cap atop these books: A Night to Die For, Miracle Men (Hershiser, Gibson, and the Improbable 1988 Dodgers), City of Dreams, Hope and Glory, and A Dream Season.
As an avid reader, the creativity for these posts was inspiring - and I'm thrilled that these institutions joined the international conversation about the World Series and promoted reading! And of course, there was that excellent hashtag #BookSpinePoetry!
FOOD NEWS
Pink's Hot Dogs: Pink's (normally featuring its classic pink banner) on Fairfax in Los Angeles updated its banner to read "PINK'S IS NOW DODGER BLUE." Pink's also featured the "Blue's Dog with bacon, chili, and cheese for $8.22 with proceeds going toward the LA Dodgers Foundation.
Colorado Dounts: This Eagle Rock location featured limited-time Dodgers doughnuts coated in bright blue glaze with "LA" in white icing. These sweet treats were available daily through the World Series.
Randy's Donuts: The legendary doughnut shop celebrated the Playoffs and World Series with Bavarian cream doughnuts topped in Dodger-blue glaze and toped with the iconic "LA" logo. The doughnuts were available at all LA-area locations.
Panda Express: A number of posts appeared on Instagram featuring mascot Pei Pei at Dodger Stadium. While Panda Express does not sell food at Dodger Stadium, it has a deal with the Dodgers that after every home game win, participating locations offer specially-priced Panda Plates.
OTHER INTERESTING WORLD SERIES NEWS:
Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy passed Babe Ruth on baseball's all-time postseason home run list!
Dodgers outfielder Justin Dean used an "Autism Speaks" Wilson glove to promote autism awareness on baseball's biggest stage!
Dodgers relief pitchers wore number "51" on their caps in support of fellow team member, reliever Alex Vesia, who was not on the Dodgers 26-man roster for the World Series. The Dodgers had announced that Vesia was away from the team to attend to a "deeply personal family matter." For Games 6 and 7, the Blue Jays relief pitchers on the Blue Jays also wore the number "51" on their caps.
Dodgers infielder/outfielder Kiki Hernandez saw the gesture and said, "For those guys to do that, it's incredible. They're trying to win a World Series, but they understand that life is bigger than baseball, and baseball's just a game. For them to do that with the stakes - where we were at with the stakes, hats off to them. And I want them to know that we appreciate them."
Since the Montreal Expos left Montreal and moved south from Canada to Washington, DC to become the Washington Nationals in 2005, the Toronto Blue Jays have been the sole Major League Baseball team in the entire country of Canada. According to MLB, "Canada’s northernmost city is closer to Greenland, nearer to the North Pole, than it is to Toronto. Although the residents of Iqaluit have spotty cell service, a climate that’s more fit for polar bears and almost total darkness for much of the winter -- they do, during these late, exceedingly exciting October nights, have their pennant-winning Blue Jays. And during the team’s greatest playoff run in 32 years, they mostly gather to watch in the warmth of The Storehouse Bar and Grill - one of the few watering holes in the zero-stoplight town. In fact, more than two percent of the city’s population can be found there. For the majority of the year, Iqaluit – the capital and only city in Canada’s Nunavut Territory – is a place where indigenous communities in the north come to visit. Most signage, including city stop signs, is in English, French and the native Inuktitut. Customers take their snowmobiles and ATVs over to root on the team that's playing more than 1,400 miles away. Or they just walk - Iqaluit is just about an hour across on foot. And, don't worry, pedestrians don't have to worry too much about running into a polar bear - the apex predators usually don't wander into the city and roam a bit more up in the wilderness with the rest of the larger land mammals."
According to Valerie Hill, general manager of The Storehouse Bar and Grill, "It feels like we're on the moon. Our bar holds 215 people, and for the playoffs our crowds varied from 120-180 people for the games. It’s a huge number when you consider our community’s population is only around 8,000 people.”
Lastly, after the epic 18-inning game at Dodger Stadium, a fan-based group, Dodgers Nation, shared the following "Permission Slip" on Twitter/X.
Did you "CATCH" any other exciting news to add to this list? Chime in and share.
In the meantime, it's less than 100 days until the 2026 Winter Olympics begin in Italy (and my #WinterOlympicsLeadershipSeries2026 appears here on my Blog) - and more importantly for baseball fans, it's 141 days until Opening Day on March 25th (March 26th for the Dodgers). Until then, congratulations on back-to-back World Series Championships to the LA Dodgers!
Image Credits: Toronto Zoo and Los Angeles Dodgers - and Dodgers Nation for the Permission Slip.
Read "Fun Marketing Stories Surrounding the 2024 World Series" (October 2024):
https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2024/10/fun-marketing-stories-surrounding-2024.html
Read "Everything Is Marketing - Especially During the World Series!" (October 2018):
https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2018/10/everything-is-marketing-especially.html
Read a similar post, "Super Bowl LIX Is Hours Away" (February 2025) - includes friendly bets:
https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2025/02/super-bowl-lix-is-hours-away.html
Read a similar post, "A Recap of the Ads from Super Bowl 57" (February 2023) - includes friendly bets:
https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2023/02/a-recap-of-ads-from-super-bowl-57.html
Read a similar post, "Fun Stories Surrounding Super Bowl 56" (February 2022):
https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2022/02/fun-stories-surrounding-super-bowl-56.html
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