Rutgers Basketball Partners With One Piece for Halftime Show/ Giveaway

If you were at the Rutgers basketball game against Indiana, chances are you noticed something different about the halftime show, and if you are unfamiliar with Japanese cartoons, known as anime, you might have had no idea what was going on.

A few weeks ago, One Piece, one of the most popular anime of all time, announced that they will have a US Voyage that would include stops at five college basketball arenas around the country. Rutgers, along with Illinois, Gonzaga, Saint John’s, and Houston, was selected to host the event. The “voyage” to each school would include a giveaway of a poster, t-shirt, collectible cards, and featured a special halftime show.

A video of the halftime performance is available here. (Video credit: The Knight Report)

One Piece was started as a Manga, or Japanese comic book, in 1997, with its animated version coming two years later. Since then, it has captivated generations of fans who grew up watching the show. The One Piece manga has sold over 578 million copies worldwide, and it is considered to be the best-selling manga series of all time.

That is why tickets for Rutgers vs Indiana were so expensive on the resale market. Another reason why the tickets were so expensive was the collectible card that was given away at the game. Fans who attended the game received a limited edition promo card. Those cards can now be found on eBay, being listed at 500 dollars plus. It was the resaleability of those cards that played a major factor in ticket prices being sky high for the game. The same cards will also be available at the Michigan State and Nebraska games, as well, which is likely the reason why tickets for those games are so expensive despite the horrid showing the men’s basketball team put on against Indiana. However, those games will not feature the halftime show that the Indiana game had.

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