Sports
Column: How Gawr Gura and VTubers could help Dodgers further tap into Japanese fan base
In the service of digging into what the Dodgers might be doing to entrench themselves as Japan’s favorite major league team, I am interviewing an animated character.
“I’m a shark-girl from the lost city of Atlantis,” Gawr Gura tells me. “I swam to the surface to hang out with you guys on land about 9,000 years ago.”
Tell me more.
“I’ve been told I have a heart of gold and a head of bone,” she says. “I have a long history of saying and doing ridiculous things on the internet.”
This is the part where I tell you that Gura — she said I could just call her Gura — will be shouting out the traditional “It’s Time for Dodger Baseball!” exclamation at Dodger Stadium on Friday.
Except, of course, that she won’t be there.
She can’t be there. She’ll be displayed on a screen, where younger generations spend most of their lives. She is what is called a virtual YouTuber, or VTuber.
“You stream online, but you don’t stream with your actual face. You stream with virtual avatars,” said Max Kim, the U.S. sales and licensing director for Cover, the Japanese company that controls 85 such avatars, including Gura, that combine for more than 82 million worldwide subscribers on YouTube.
Gura is the most popular VTuber in the world. Her YouTube channel has 4.5 million subscribers. That is more followers than the Dodgers have on YouTube and Instagram, combined. (On the social media platform X, the Dodgers outscore her, 2.8 million to 1.9 million.)
Just the announcement of Friday’s promotion, featuring Gura and two of her fellow avatars, generated 3.4 million views on X.
The trading card sets that will be distributed Friday already are on sale for as much as $125 on eBay. The promotional T-shirt with Gura in a Dodgers uniform — with her shark tail sticking out — are on sale there for as much as $195.
For Cover — and its signature Hololive brand — the Dodgers’ promotion is one step in a campaign to broaden the appeal of VTubers beyond the fervent core of Japanese young men. Of the viewers of Gura’s YouTube Channel, half are 24 or younger, and nine in 10 are male.
A set of trading cards featuring VTubers will be part of a promotion at Dodger Stadium on Friday.
(Courtesy Hololive Production)
Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto is 25. The Hololive avatars have appeared in promotions for Japan’s Pacific League, in which Yamamoto played from 2017-2023.
I showed him a picture of Gura and asked if he recognized her. He said he did not.
“Our goal is to make sure that people know what VTubing is,” Kim said.
“Ten years ago, the whole concept of streaming was pretty strange. It was not really existing. Now we accept that as a normal means of communication and entertainment. We want the same for VTubing as well.”
That makes Cover no different than dozens of other companies signing up as a Dodgers sponsor to get their message out to a large, mainstream audience. Cover is opening an office in Los Angeles this month, its avatars are virtually appearing at an anime expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center this weekend, and it hopes its collaboration with the Dodgers can be just as useful as previous ones with Taco Bell and Red Bull.
Kim said his company would have pursued the collaboration with the Dodgers even if the team had not signed Shohei Ohtani.
“We have our interest: to expand in the U.S. market,” Kim said. “They have their interests. I’m pretty sure the Dodgers will have their own thoughts behind this collaboration.”
They declined to share them. Jon Weisman, the team’s vice president of communications, said the Dodgers did not wish to participate in this story.
In December, when the Dodgers introduced Ohtani, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said this: “One of our goals is to have baseball fans in Japan convert to Dodger blue.”
Is it possible the Dodgers could win new fans in Japan by tapping into an activity which is wildly popular among Japanese teens who just might be looking for a team to follow, even if they might not know it yet?
“The Dodgers and Hololive have distinct fan bases,” said the chief executive of Cover, Motoaki Tanigo. “It’s the diversity of our fan bases that allows us to blend and connect our followers into a unified community, which is the essence of this collaboration.”
For one night, anyway, that collaboration will involve a virtual girl with shark teeth. I asked Gura if she could play baseball.
“I can play ball,” she said. “I got bad hand-eye coordination, I’m not very fast, and my joints might give out by the third inning, but I can cheer and scream for my team like no other!”
So, virtually, it’s time for Dodger baseball!
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The Seattle Seahawks locked down the top seed in the NFC playoffs and a strong path to the Super Bowl on Saturday night with a season finale win over the San Francisco 49ers.
Seattle also finished with their best regular season record in franchise history, clinching 14 wins for the first time ever.
The Seahawks held on to a 10-point victory despite outgaining the 49ers 363 yards to 173, and running 64 plays to San Francisco’s 42.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba #11 of the Seattle Seahawks fails to catch the ball against Ji’Ayir Brown #27 of the San Francisco 49ers during an NFL game on Jan. 3, 2026 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. (Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire)
Seattle missed a field goal in the fourth quarter and turned the ball over on downs in the first quarter to waste two red zone drives, but dominated on defense to prevent those missed opportunities from coming back to haunt them.
The 49ers wasted their best drive of the night as well when quarterback Brock Purdy was intercepted at Seattle’s three-yard line in the fourth quarter facing a 10-point deficit, which seemingly secured the game for the Seahawks.
NFL WEEK 17 SCORES: AFC NORTH, NFC SOUTH UP FOR GRABS AS PLAYOFF PICTURE ALMOST COMPLETE
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, in his first season on the team, completed 20 passes on 26 attempts for 198 yards and helped set up the only touchdown of the entire game in the first quarter.
Darnold redeemed a disappointing Week-18 game for the Minnesota Vikings last season when he completed just 18 of 41 passes for 166 yards in a battle for the top seed against the Detroit Lions.
Darnold said “Learning from mistakes, and staying calm from the pocket,” made the difference in his performance Saturday compared to a year ago, in a postgame interview with ESPN.
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Jaxon Smith-Njigba #11 of the Seattle Seahawks carries the ball against the San Francisco 49ers during the second quarter of a game at Levi’s Stadium on January 03, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy had just 127 yards with the late interception, and took a big hit on his final pass of the night, then took a while to get back up. He was eventually able to walk off the field, and Seattle ran the clock out.
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When it’s Harvey Kitani versus David Rebibo in a high school basketball coaching matchup, you know it’s going to be a defensive grind. They demand defensive production, so Rolling Hills Prep and Harvard-Westlake went at it for 32 minutes on Saturday night at St. Francis.
It took four consecutive free throws by Joe Sterling in the final 21 seconds for Harvard-Westlake (17-2) to hold on for a 50-46 victory. About the only mistake Rolling Hills Prep (13-5) made was choosing to foul Sterling, well known as a clutch free-throw shooter. But the Huskies had no choice after a three by Aaron Heinze got them to within 48-46 with 2.6 seconds left.
Sterling finished with 16 points. Pierce Thompson had 14 points and Dominique Bentho added 11 points and 12 rebounds. Nick Welch Jr. had a big game for Rolling Hills Prep with 21 points on eight-for-14 shooting. Carter Fulton added 10 points.
Santa Margarita 72, Fairfax 41: The Eagles (19-2) opened a 21-2 lead after the first quarter and cruised to victory at St. Francis. Brayden Kyman scored 21 points, Kaiden Bailey had 17 and Drew Anderson had 15.
St. Pius X-St. Matthias 67, JSerra 62: Kayleb Kearse finished with 27 points in the victory. Jaden Bailes had 30 points for JSerra.
Sierra Canyon 77, Phoenix St. Mary’s 45: The Trailblazers (13-1) tuned up for the start of Mission League play with a rout in Arizona. Brandon McCoy scored 18 points and Brannon Martinsen had 17.
Chaminade 70, Palos Verdes 44: Temi Olafisoye had 17 points for the 18-1 Eagles.
Thousand Oaks 53, Oak Park 46: The Lancers won their 16th consecutive game to stay unbeaten. Gabriel Chin had 14 points.
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 67, Layton Christian (Utah) 64: NaVorro Bowman led the Knights (13-4) with 24 points. Josiah Nance added 16 points.
Bishop Montgomery 71, Palisades 68: Austin Kirksey had 24 points and Tarron Williams scored 22 points to help Bishop Montgomery improve to 15-2. Freshman Phillip Reed scored 24 points for Palisades.
Crespi 60, Modesto Christian 49: The Celts improved to 13-6.
St. John Bosco 62, Chandler (Ariz.) Basha 54: Christian Collins scored 31 points and Max Ellis had 22 for the Braves in a win in Arizona.
Mayfair 69, Cypress 56: Josiah Johnson’s 27 points helped Mayfair improve to 8-5.
Inglewood 98, Pasadena 97: Jason Crowe Jr. made the game-winning shot in overtime and finished with 51 points for Inglewood.
Girls basketball
Harvard-Westlake 51, Phoenix Desert Vista 39: Freshman Lucia Khamenia finished with 24 points for Harvard-Westlake.
Brentwood 59, Cardinal Newman 53: The Eagles improved to 9-4. Kelsey Sugar scored 24 points.
Saugus 57, Birmingham 52: Kayla Tanijiri had 16 points for Birmingham (13-3).
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Only one more week of the 2025 NFL regular season remains, as Week 17 brought about some more playoff implications and even 2026 NFL Draft key positions.
The biggest takeaway from the slate of Week 17 is that two divisions in the NFL — the AFC North and NFC South — will be determined by whoever wins key matchups in Week 18.
First, it’s the Pittsburgh Steelers getting upset by the Cleveland Browns at home, as Aaron Rodgers couldn’t find Marquez Valdes-Scantling on a controversial game-ending play in the end zone. That loss sets up the AFC North title game between the Steelers and Baltimore Ravens, which is only possibly thanks to a road victory where Derrick Henry scored four touchdowns against the Green Bay Packers.
Then, despite both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers losing their respective matchups, the NFL tiebreakers make their Week 18 bout the NFC South title game.
Aaron Rodgers of the Pittsburgh Steelers reacts during the second quarter of the game against the Cleveland Browns at Huntington Bank Field on Dec. 28, 2025, in Cleveland. (Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
And while everyone was focused on the NFL playoff picture, the two-game 4 o’clock slate gave us the New York Giants against the Las Vegas Raiders, the winner of which owning the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft.
The Giants would’ve solidified the pick with a loss, but Jaxson Dart and the Giants’ offense blew out Geno Smith and the Raiders to relinquish the pick, which now belongs in Sin City.
NFL WEEK 16 SCORES: PLAYOFF PRESSURE LEADS TO THRILLING FINISHES ACROSS LEAGUE
Here’s how every NFL game played out:
THURSDAY, DEC. 25
– DALLAS COWBOYS 30, WASHINGTON COMMANDERS 23
– MINNESOTA VIKINGS 23, DETROIT LIONS 10
– DENVER BRONCOS 20, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS 13
Dak Prescott (4) of the Dallas Cowboys celebrates after his team’s touchdown against the Washington Commanders in the second quarter of a game at Northwest Stadium on Dec. 25, 2025 in Landover, Maryland. (Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
SATURDAY, DEC. 27
– HOUSTON TEXANS 20, LOS ANGELES CHARGERS 16
– BALTIMORE RAVENS 41, GREEN BAY PACKERS 24
SUNDAY, DEC. 28
– CINCINNATI BENGALS 37, ARIZONA CARDINALS 14
– CLEVELAND BROWNS 13, PITTSBURGH STEELERS 7
– NEW ORLEANS SAINTS 34, TENNESSEE TITANS 26
– JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS 23, INDIANAPOLIS COLTS 17
– MIAMI DOLPHINS 20, TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS 17
– NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 42, NEW YORK JETS 10
– SEATTLE SEAHAWKS 27, CAROLINA PANTHERS 10
– NEW YORK GIANTS 34, LAS VEGAS RAIDERS 10
– PHILADELPHIA EAGLES 13, BUFFALO BILLS 12
– SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS-CHICAGO BEARS (TBD)
Bundle FOX One and FOX Nation to stream the entire FOX Nation library, plus live FOX News, Sports, and Entertainment at our lowest price of the year. The offer ends on Jan. 4, 2026. (Fox One; Fox Nation)
MONDAY, DEC. 29
– LOS ANGELES RAMS-ATLANTA FALCONS (TBD)
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