Once a year, the Rakuten Eagles ― Tohoku's only professional baseball team ― play at Tokyo Dome, and it's a special event. But the Rakuten Super Nighter offers so much more than just the game. Special booths set up throughout the stadium let visitors try all sorts of sports activities. The hope is that this event becomes a gateway to taking an interest with more sports.

Although it was a weekday evening game, the summer vacation period brought plenty of families with children to Tokyo Dome. With the recovery of inbound tourism post-COVID, there were also many foreign fans in Crimson Red jerseys. The Rakuten Super Nighter is a place where you can enjoy sports across no matter what your gender, age, and nationality is. Inside the stadium, large LED screens were scattered across the concourse, playing videos based on the concept “A Better Future Together Through Sports,” sharing the Rakuten Group’s vision with everyone in attendance.

Visitors who participated in the various Rakuten Group activities set up around Tokyo Dome received a red, blue, or green player card. If all three colors were collected, you could enter a lottery for great prizes, including items signed by the players. This campaign gave visitors an easy and fun reason to engage with all the event activities.

At the “My Better Future Card Booth,” visitors chose keywords on a touchscreen to choose what they thought was needed for a “better future.” An AI then generated a custom background image matching those keywords for a photo op. It was a chance to reflect on a sustainable society and a brighter future for sports.

The “Sports Challenge Booth” let visitors hit, throw, or kick in sync with soccer and baseball videos on a big screen, bringing the action to life. A camera captured each play and the AI auto-generated a matching headline, turning the whole experience into a personalized “My Sports Newspaper” ― combining sports fun with cutting-edge tech.

The “Athlete Message Board” displayed “MY BETTER FUTURE is…” ― messages from Rakuten Eagles, Vissel Kobe, and other Rakuten-affiliated athletes about what sports can do to help create a better world. It offered visitors a chance to see what went on in athletes’ minds, and think deeply about the possibilities of sports.

In the “TANDEM CYCLING” activity, pairs participated in riding a two-person bicycle and worked together to catch falling mascot characters from the Rakuten Eagles, Rakuten Monkeys, and Vissel Kobe. The bike was designed so it could also be pedaled by hand, making it accessible to children who couldn’t reach the pedals, or to people with mobility limitations. Rakuten Eagles ambassador Ginji and SOCIAL WORKEEERZ representative DAIKI both gave it a try. It was an activity anyone could enjoy, regardless of age or ability.

Bottle recycling boxes called “Bottle Cap Exchange Boxes” were placed at two locations in the venue. Rakuten Group collects the caps, sells them to recyclers, and channels the proceeds into funding for vaccines to children around the world. The Rakuten Super Nighter is also a place where you can take action toward a more sustainable society.

Before the game, popular rock band Sambomaster appeared for a live performance and the ceremonial first pitch. Their performance was accompanied by SOCIAL WORKEEERZ ― a group working to create inclusive dance spaces for people regardless of ability ― along with the Rakuten Eagles’ official cheerleaders, the Tohoku Golden Angels, Vissel Kobe’s cheer unit, the Vissel Sereia, and the Rakuten Monkeys’ cheerleaders, the Rakuten Girls, in a historic first collaboration. Together they performed to Sambomaster’s “Dekikkonai wo Yaranakucha,” bringing the stadium to a fever pitch.

The Rakuten Group’s two goals are “Sports for Everyone,” to create an environment where everyone can enjoy sports in their own way across every dimension of sports, and “Green for Future,” to achieve climate action and resource circulation so that people can keep enjoying sports in a rich environment for generations to come. The journey toward these goals is still only beginning, but the smiles on visitors’ faces at this Rakuten Super Nighter will surely point the way to a better future.

Text: Kodai Wada
Photo: Teppei Hori
Edit: Yohsuke Watanabe (IN FOCUS)