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The Tokyo Yakult Swallows will open their 40th season with the 2009 season. To celebrate, they are coming out with new home and away uniforms. On the team’s website, the first 400 fans will be able to purchase jerseys, which will be available by opening day. Before opening day, the players, managers and the mascot will gather with the fans to introduce their new uniforms and provide an opportunity for 500 fans to attend a talk show. During the season, the Swallows will honor their past and will have four themed terms throughout the season dedicated to each decade. Also fans were able to send photos from their cell phones to be included on the 40th anniversary board, “Our Swallows” which will be showcased in the stadium throughout the season.

Sharing the same home market with one of the most popular teams in the Giants, their strategy toward building a fan base requires creativity. Experiencing the lockout in the 2005 season as the president of player’s association, former player and manager Atsuya Furuta started the F-Project to improve relationship with the fans and the community. The three words linked to the F-Project is Fan, Fun, and Full (attendance in the stadium). The project is also thought to be named the F-Project taking the first letter from Furuta. The project has ended, since Furuta is no longer part of the team, but their focus toward establishing a relationship with the fans and the community still continues to improve.

The Swallows puts their effort toward exciting the city of Tokyo by parterning with a professional basketball team in the Tokyo Apache. A fan club member or a Swallows fan arriving with team’s apparel will receive a discount for the basketball game. The same arrangement goes for the Apache fans attending a Swallows game as well. Swallows players will at times attend Apache games for a tip-off ceremony and each team try to build connections in order to make sports a big part of the capital of Japan.

Flexibility in tickets is available with their five different types of ten-game ticket plans which they call the Swallows player pack 10 plus 1. The options vary from ten games including just weekdays, mainly weekend games or a mixture of both. Fans purchasing these ticket plans will also receive a bonus game ticket for free. Another interesting opportunity for the fans in all April home games limited to hundred fans are the Warm Merchandise Included Tickets, which will include a team scarf, an exchange ticket for a hot drink included with a  reserved seating game ticket along the first base for only 3000 yen.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows will use every opportunity to market their 40th anniversary for success both on and off the field for the 2009 season.

The Yomiuri Giants and the Hanshin Tigers may be the leaders off the field with their popularity, but the Chunichi Dragons compete every season on the field with their support from local fans. In order for a small market team to compete yearly with the big market teams like the Giants and the Tigers, the focus needs to be directed locally and Dragons do just that to stay successful.

The Dragons utilize the web effectively in order to be close with their fans and the community. They provide multiple blogs which are updated consistently with inside information about the team. Another blog is exposed with official pictures and allows the fans to be keep up to date about the players. To build a fan base in the community, targeting the young ones is another component that teams cannot forget and the Dragons have launched a website directed toward the younger generation called Kids Dragons. Children will be able to download and print out paper craft materials to make their own Dragons related items. They also can play numerous games which include academic problems, which should make their parents happy.

The Dragons established an opportunity for the fans to be entertained every game as they provide a schedule with pre-game events, giveaways, and in-game event schedule on their website. The team has opportunities for fans to watch a dance show with the mascot and cheerleaders and listen to former players talk about their past experiences before the actual game outside the ballpark. Opportunities for children to engage in baseball are unlimited as the team provides younger fans to watch practice and play catch on the field after games with an entry of application. For certain games, a couple kids will be given the opportunity to work as a grounds keeper and a public address announcer which might inspire the next generation to want to have a job at the ballpark when they grow up.
 
Not only do they focus on the children fans, but are looking to build a stronger relationship with their passionate season ticket holders. They launched a website for season ticket holders on March 5th which gives opportunities for them to purchase priority tickets, apply for events, and buy team merchandise items at a discounted price.
 
As long as the Dragons could keep thier loyal fans and establish their next generation of fans in the community, they should be able to compete every year with the bigger market teams on the field and off the field.

The biggest rivalry in Japanese baseball is certainly that of the Yomiuri Giants and the Hanshin Tigers. The Tigers are known for their extreme fans and the atmospheres during their games is quite different from other ballparks. The tradition of fans shooting balloons in the seventh inning stretch and after victories is a tremendous sight to see whether you’re a baseball fan or not. Building up the tradition is working beneficial for their business as most fans in attendance look to buy the a of balloons before the seventh inning.

The home of the Hanshin Tigers, Koshien Stadium is every ball player’s dream as the national high school tournament is held every spring and summer. Every high school player dreams to play on the field of Koshien Stadium. The ballpark went under a renovation over a three-year span using the off-season to provide better comfort and safety for the fans, but their goal was to retain the tradition and history of the park. Koshien Staidum added features like royal suite seating, an LED scoreboard, and installation of new stadium lights, which makes the fans have an enjoyable time, but also helps the players as well. The new stadium also added female friendly facilities such as a day-care center and baby beds in the restrooms. The newest addition is box seating created with the image of Japanese bars along the third base called the Mitsuwa Cider Box. Traditional home style seating will allow the fans to watch the games in a very home-like atmosphere. The unique seating will be provided for 79 fans at 51 home games. Naming rights for seats has been a business strategy emphasized in the renovated stadium as three companies has already bought the rights for specific sections of the ballpark. The newest addition and changes to the ballpark can be seen daily by a blog written by an operations staff.

The next plan in the renovation is to include and allow the fans to be a part of the stadium. Thirty thousand fans will be able to purchase a “Koshien Naming Brick Membership” and have their name embedded on bricks outside of the stadium. The bricks will be laid in 2010 and the fee for each name will be 20,100 yen. The funds raised will be directed toward the development of the Koshien History Museum honoring the Tigers players, the ballpark, and the number of high school players creating the drama every season during the national tournament. Creating change is important as a ballclub being part of the entertainment world, but the Hanshin Tigers will always remember to implement the new by keeping the tradition and history of their beloved franchise.

If the Rakuten Golden Eagles are the new blood of Japanese Professional Baseball, the most historic franchise is the Yomiuri Giants. They were and may still be the most popular franchise in Japan with a strong influence from a comic starting at 1966, “Kyojin no Hoshi” which means the Star of the Giants. In the late 1960’s, a famous saying was born. “The three things kids loved most were the Giants, Taihou (Sumo Wrestler), and tamago-yaki (baked egg).

Expanding into Asia has been the new motto for the Giants. With the acquisition of a star Korean player in Seung-Youp Lee before the 2006 season, their popularity in South Korea has exploded. Making most of the opportunity, the Giants established a Korean-language website looking to reach out more to the Korean fans. Another development is leadership in China, where they agreed to a partnership with a professional Chinese team, the Beijing Tigers.

Increasing popularity in other Asian countries is not leading to stability in their own country. The demand for tickets and television coverage has seen a drop and therefore their focus toward sport business is coming around. The Giants announced last July they will add new employees with the possibility hiring of new college graduates, which is still uncommon for Japanese sports teams. Adding quality young blood into the organization might be the step they are looking to take, which can be said on the field as well.

Focus of the Giants is directed toward ticket sales as they are implementing new strategies. They partnered with travel agency JTB and fans will be able to buy Giants home game tickets at any of their 2500 stores around the nation. Another new way for fans to obtain tickets are by their cell phones. People will be able to choose their seats and purchase their tickets 24 hours by phone. New opportunities will be available for fans this upcoming season as the Tokyo Dome will expand their Excite Seat (Field-Level Seating) to 420 from the previous 228.

Popularity may not be a given for the Yomiuri Giants any more. To remain the best off the field, they will need to compete with new strategies in order to remain the leaders of Japanese professional Baseball.

When talking about sports business in Japanese Professional Baseball, you’d have to say that one of the most aggressive teams is the Rakuten Golden Eagles, an expansion team that joined Nippon Professional Baseball in the 2005 season. One of two teams (the other being the Softbank Hawks) owned by a new generation information technology company, the team has been showing an aggressive approach to changing the color of business in professional baseball.

Their ballpark, Kleenex Stadium Miyagi, is a major league-style ballpark, being the first ballpark in Japan introducing the field level seats. The seating in the stadium has changed with renovation and has expanded recently with group seating near the right field section for family customers. Another major league-style section is the “Eagles’ Nest”, an indoor lounge above the first base side which gives the fans another option. This area can be used for events and parties on non-game days as well. The stadium also offers a day-care center for the fan’s children. On weekends and holidays, the parents will be able to leave their kids from the time the gate opens until thirty minutes after the final out. The stadium also provides an entertainment center called “Children’s Land.” During games this area will be open with entertainment attractions, such as a dome shaped trampoline, an air shute, and a train ride attraction for not only kids, but their parents as well.

Selling stadium naming rights is not common in Japan yet, and Stadium Miyagi is one of the few ballparks that have taken that opportunity to expand their business. Another sponsorship business they have been able to expand is on their LED scoreboard. New spaces on the scoreboard have allowed the opportunities to add sponsors and expand their business in another way.

Another interesting entertainment that the Rakuten Golden Eagles provides is their own cheerleading squad, known as the “Tohoku Golden Angels.” This will be the fifth year and the cheerleading team has reached to a partnership with United Spirit Association/Japan which has its headquarters in the United States. They look at this new partnership to not only benefit the baseball and sports world, but an opportunity to learn from cheerleading in the United States and find ways to provide optimism to northern Japan.

Optimism will be helpful in an economic downturn and the Golden Eagles are preparing to be creative with their ticket sales strategies as the future becomes less predictable. This is a strategy that American fans are familiar with, but the Golden Eagles will be the first to implement in Japanese professional baseball. Every season game will be categorized into one of the five set prices for tickets regarding the time of the year, day of the week, and opponents. With flex pricing in place, the average price per ticket will be lower than the previous season.

As economic crisis hits the world, this may not be a bad time for the individual teams in Japanese professional baseball to expand their business by being creative and implementing the “Sport Management” way of thinking. Being too dependent on the owner’s business could only hurt in a time like this… It will be interesting to see what the other teams are coming up with and I will touch on another team’s new business idea next.

The words “Sport Management” and “Sports Business” have recently become trendy in Japan. Some universities jumped at the opportunity to expand interest from students to the community, while other universities have quietly been observing what opportunities sports business may bring. The idea of sports being able to make money and individual teams being able to operate independently was fart-fetched due to the long history of professional teams being dependent on parent companies, which is still the fact today in most cases.

One of the universities jumping at the opportunity is Waseda University, to which Masumi Kuwata has recently been accepted. Their school philosophy from founder Shigenobu Okuma was to be involved in athletics as much as academics. Even though their implementation of sports activities in the classroom has run since 1964, their history of the Sport Management and business courses has started recently in 2003, which illustrates how short the history of sports business has been in the mind of the academia. Now many of the universities that have been observers are jumping at the possibility and developing a new area in sports studies at a significant pace.

As more individuals have looked overseas to play professional sports, more of the Japanese population has shown an interest in the sports world overseas. Along with the creation of professional soccer and basketball leagues in the last twenty years, people have started to recognize that sports, indeed have an opportunity to bring in revenue. That is the same for Japanese professional baseball and teams has started to expand their strategies by learning from other professional teams and started to bring some creativity to their strategies. With the economy being unstable, the importance of professional teams not being dependent on their parent companies might be crucial in the future. As more and more individuals start to develop sport management knowledge on Japanese campuses, the new generation might be able to bring a CHANGE to the sports business in the future. I will look into some of the new sports business ideas implemented in team management throughout Japanese professional baseball in my next entry.

Former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Masumi Kuwata has been accepted to the Waseda University Sports Management Graduate Program. Before being selected first overall in the 1985 draft by the Yomiuri Giants, his desire was to attend Waseda University after his high school days at PL Gakuen.

The Daily Yomiuri has comments from Masumi: “My desire to study on Waseda University’s campus has not diminished after 23 years.”

Since his retirement, there has been much speculation on Masumi’s future in baseball. Although the most popular speculation was his future being in coaching, he stated his bigger dream.

Nikkan Sports has comments from Masumi: “I felt that I will not be able to change the baseball world by being a coach. There are people above controlling the organizations. I have a bigger dream than what people imagine.”

After his retirement from baseball as a player, he spent his time attending independent league and high school games in Japan to view a different perspective of baseball. “Being a coach is wonderful, but I also have a desire to study management and marketing. I understand the inside of the baseball world and now I want to look at the outside.”

So what is he looking forward to being on a college campus?

Comments from Nikkan Sports: “I will like to be a part of the Waseda-Keio rivalry game and enjoy the atmosphere. There should be a lot to gain from watching the student athletes on campus.”

The sports business in Japan is gradually growing; influenced by how big the industry has become across the sea in the United States. A national icon like Masumi learning the fundamentals of sports business at one of the most recognized programs might raise awareness and stimulate the growth of sports business in Japan. With my knowledge, experience, and what I see from the news, I hope to add the business side of development in Japanese baseball to this website.