NPB Tracker

One of the positive outcomes after the Kintetsu Buffaloes-Orix Blue Wave merger and the addition of Rakuten Golden Eagles in 2005 was the increase of interest in sports business from the general public. The development of the problem was publicized daily on every media and I personally remember wanting to know the details and learn exactly what was happening behind the scenes. I was probably not the only one developing an interest in the subject, as many teams around the league started to show signs of emphasizing the business side of their operations. From that time on there have been many books published on the business side of NPB and, for bilingual readers, I would like to recommend some of the books I have read recently and in the past which might catch your interest.

• プロ野球2.0 (Pro Baseball 2.0)
• 楽天が巨人に勝つ日ースポーツビジネス下克上ー (The Day Rakuten Defeats the Giants)
• スポーツと国力ー巨人はなぜ勝てない (Sports and National Strength-Why Can’t the Giants Win)
• 97敗、黒字。ー楽天イーグルスの一年 (97 Losses, Black Ink. -The Rakuten Eagles’ First Year)
• プロ野球は崩壊する！ースポーツビジネス再生のシナリオ (Pro Baseball will Collapse! -A Scenario to Revive Sports Business)

I will try introducing some good reads at times to get a better understanding and learn what happens behind the scenes in Japanese baseball and sports in general.