For an early Sunday morning, the crowd seemed way more energized than I expected as we walked around the entryway of the SoFi Stadium the Los Angeles Rams vs Cleveland Browns game held on December 3, 2023. People rushed through the security checkpoint, bright-eyed and smiling, eager to grab free towels and bags emblazoned with the One Piece logo. Over 70,000 fans were in attendance at the Rams vs Browns game, and to my surprise many were fans of both football and One Piece.
I’ve been to many sports games over the years, especially themed games like Star Wars Night at the Dodgers Stadium or Pride Night for the LA Kings, but I’ve never seen football fans as excited as they were for this One Piece collaboration with the Los Angeles Rams. People were running to get their clear bags even though Bandai Namco had dozens and dozens of boxes bursting at the seams and at the ready. I saw a plenty of people even swing back around for more bags. Usually when there is free stuff at games, a few people do try get extras for reselling or gifting to friends and family, but there is never this level of fervor present. Inside of the clear bags was a poster advertising the One Piece Card Game and One Piece: Bounty Rush, and a One Piece Card Game promotional pack featuring 5 trading cards, so I admit I would have also been running to get my hands on this merchandise.
Fans were dressed in haori and kimono-style robes with the iconic Jolly Roger for the Straw Hats. Some had emblems that represented their favorite characters like Sanji and Nami. I definitely saw a bunch of people wearing iconic straw hats and even Chopper’s hat with his horns. There were definitely a few children in full cosplay as Luffy. I’ve never seen anything more wholesome in my life.
The level of excitement surrounding the One Piece collaboration only began with the free swag giveaway. The electric signboards circling the arena would periodically flash “One Piece” with the Straw Hat’s Jolly Roger. During the game, music from One Piece would play as one of the songs hype up the audience and rally them for cheers. During the 1st quarter break, an ad ran that promoted the anime and manga series, and the crowd seemed to go wild as it played. I’ve never seen people get so excited over something like this before. The ad depicted each of the lead characters from One Piece in their animated and hand-drawn forms, including Luffy the captain, Zoro the swordsman, Nami the navigator, Usopp the shooter, and Santi the cook. Other Straw Hats were shown like Robin, Chopper, Franky, Brook, and Jinbe, as well as key moments from the series.
As I watched the ad on the giant infinity screen, I couldn’t help but think about all of the parents and children in the audience who may have been One Piece fans sharing a special moment together, watching two favorite pastimes come together and marvel at the world of football meeting the world of One Piece. I’m sure there are tons of adults who, like myself, grew up watching the anime on various cartoon blocks as kids, and are now adults seeing the series flourish and expand to newer generations. Also, people rarely consider the overlap between anime fans and sports fans. Many of my own generation grew up on anime like One Piece, and it’s amazing to see how big it has become in 2023.
Following the ad, there was a Snapchat filter promoted where people would be marked with a wanted poster and a bounty. The first person to appear during the Snapchat filter’s activation happened to be Iñaki Godoy, the actor of Monkey D. Luffy in the Netflix live-action adaption of One Piece. Godoy happened to be at the Rams vs. Browns game to witness the festivities going on.
Another ad also ran during the 3rd quarter break just before the 4th quarter where the Rams dominated the Browns with a final score of 36-19. It seems to me that the Straw Hat Pirates were just the lucky thing the Rams needed to score a major win against the Browns, but I also feel like as a whole the day was extremely special for everybody who loved football, the Rams, and One Piece.
One Piece manga is published by Viz Media outside of Japan. Fans can watch the anime on Crunchyroll and Netflix. The live-action series just released on Netflix.
