Japanese Baseball Going Broke

[Mulboyne]

Baseball merger crisis deepens

Japanese baseball's contraction crisis deepened Wednesday when it was revealed at an owners' meeting that more Pacific League teams are considering a merger.

Local media reported after Wednesday's meeting that the Seibu Lions are also considering a merger. Seibu owner Yoshiaki Tsutsumi said the Lions, Fukuoka Daiei Hawks, Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters and Chiba Lotte Marines have been shortlisted for a possible merger between two of them.

Wednesday's revelations raised the possibility that Japanese baseball will restructure to a one-league format for next season instead of the existing two-league system.

Since we know that Sumo and J League have their own financial problems, I can only conclude that there aren't many professional sports doing well in Japan right now. Golf and Marathon running, I suppose.

In fact, yesterday's JT interview with img, the sports agents, suggest that too but also includes tennis.

q: Outside of Naoko Takahashi, are there any other prominent Japanese athletes that img represents?

a: We still represent (retired tennis player) Shuzo Matsuoka and golfer Riko Higashio.

[Taro Toporific]

Baseball merger crisis deepens

They don't wanna play ball either....

Japanese owners reject World Cup concept
FOX Sports -July 8 3 hours ago
... Japan's baseball owners have decided to reject major league baseball's World Cup concept in which the U.S. commissioner's office and the Major League Baseball Players Association would be in charge of the tournament. ...

[Mulboyne]

If their financial problems are that acute, then turning down that proposal looks like cutting off your nose to spite your face.

[Captain Japan]

If their financial problems are that acute, then turning down that proposal looks like cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Robert Whiting, who wrote You Gotta Have Wa and recently The Meaning of Ichiro, spoke at the Foreign Correspondents' Club Japan on Tuesday. When the merger talks came up he made a real good point: Japanese owners don't run their teams as a business, it is really just advertising. The company name attached to the scores each night is cheaper and more effective advertising for Orix than making a 20-second commercial.

He went on to say that the failure to develop a real minor league system (right now all Japanese teams have one minor league team) is killing the league. With such a limited pool to take from, losing a Matsui or Ichiro is slowing killing the league. And it shouldn't, he says, because there are so many kids playing baseball at the high school level.

Earlier this year I watched the Ham Fighters play at home in Sapporo against someone on the TV. There couldn't have been 300 fans in the entire building. And this was fresh from their move from Tokyo in hopes of developing their own fan base. Other than the Giants and Hanshin, I am really surprised these teams have made it this far.