The Boston Red Sox this winter signed perhaps the most sought after free agent. Daisuke Matsuzaka. Matsuzaka is the third major asian baseball player to make the leap from Japan to America. The others being Hideki Matsui of the New York Yankees and Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners.
The Red Sox committed a record $51.11 million to the Seibu Lions, his baseball team, just to exclusively negotiate with Matsuzaka, paying him another $52 million over 6 years to play in Boston. The Red Sox felt that not only was Matsuzaka a top of the line pitcher, he would be a revenue generating machine in the lucrative asian market.
The Red Sox are expected to have Japanese advertisments in Fenway Park for the first time ever. They are also planning special events, such as holding back tickets to Matsuzaka starts and charging a premium to customers who would like to be part of the "Matsuzaka Experience". The money spent by these fans would buy tickets to the game, a Matsuzaka jersey, early entrance to the park and dinner.
The Red Sox are also expanding their popular tours of Fenway Park to include Japanese tours.
A local bureau estimated that Japanese tourists could bring as much as $14 million in revenues to the city of Boston this year alone. Not all of this is due to Matsuzaka but a considerable amount is. While the money does not all go directly to the Red Sox, this is the beginning of opening a once very small minded team up to the rest of the world.
This is only the beginning of a worldwide integration in sports. With sports at a worldwide level instead of a national level, the potential for revenue is vastly increased. If a team wants to be competitive on a global scale, it has to make a commitment to being open and understanding of different cultures.
For More Information See:
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2007/02/11/matsuzaka_factor_mobilizes_red_sox/
1 comment:
Good blog man. I do agree with most of what you wrote about Matsuzaka, like that it is great for city, and it will increase revenue for the team, and add many Japanese tourists. But its all dependent on one thing...If he will be good! The only reason why it has worked for Seattle and New York is because Ichiro and Matsui have been great players so far. I would want to see if a pitcher who has never pitched in the MLB before can be sucessful, then thats when I would start seeing all the benefits..Because if he gets bombed every start, which I bet probably won't happen, but if it does...those fans and that money will dry up quick...remember Beckett was supposed to be a huge signing last year, but he sucked...so just wait and see with Matsuzaka, I know I will be curious to find out. -- Armand
Post a Comment