California State University, San Bernardino CSUSB ScholarWorks Theses Digitization Project John M. Pfau Library 2004 Comparing marketing policies in Nippon Professional Baseball and the National Fooball League: Lessons for Japanese sports teams Noboru Oshima Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project Part of the Marketing Commons Recommended Citation Oshima, Noboru, "Comparing marketing policies in Nippon Professional Baseball and the National Fooball League: Lessons for Japanese sports teams" (2004). Theses Digitization Project. 2544. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/2544 This Project is brought to you for free and open access by the John M. Pfau Library at CSUSB ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses Digitization Project by an authorized administrator of CSUSB ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. COMPARING MARKETING POLICIES IN NIPPON PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL AND THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: LESSONS FOR JAPANESE SPORTS TEAMS i A Project Presented to the Faculty of California State University, San Bernardino In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Business Administration by Noboru Oshima June 2004 COMPARING MARKETING POLICIES IN NIPPON PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL AND THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: LESSONS FOR JAPANESE SPORTS TEAMS A Project Presented to the 'Faculty of California State University, San Bernardino by Noboru Oshima June 2004 Approved byj Eric Newman, Ph.D., Chair, Marketing Date Lee Hanson, Ph.D. Vic Joha: .r t ment ?ke t i ng © 2004 Noboru Oshima ABSTRACT This paper compares the effectiveness bf marketing i policies in the U.S. National Football League (NFL) and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Marketing policy i recommendations are developed for the NPB to help it regain popularity in Japan. I i i i I ! i i 1 I i i I i iii I ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author would like to express his appreciation to I Dr. Newman, Dr. Hanson, and Dr. Johar, Marketing Department Chair, and everyone else who supported me. 1I I iv I TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.......................... )........... iv I LIST OF TABLES........................... !........... i x CHAPTER ONE: BACKGROUND ' Introduction........................ j........... 1 Purpose of the Project.............. J.................... 1 Significance of the Project.......... J........... 2 Assumptions......................... J........... 2 Limitations.......................... j.......... 4 Definition of Terms.................. :.......... 4 Organization of the Thesis........... |.......... 6 I CHAPTER TWO: INDUSTRY ANALYSIS OF THE NIPPON PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL AND THE j NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE ! I Introduction........................ J.......... 8 The Nippon Professional Baseball and Major League Baseball..................... i.......... 8 Unique Factors in Professional Sports ’ Marketing..... '...................... i.......... 12 I Situation of the Nippon Professional Baseball and the National Football League..... |.......... 14 Factor Conditions in the Nippon I Professional Baseball and the National Football League................. I.......... 14 Nippon Professional Baseball Ballparks 14 National Football League Stadiums;.......... 15 vi Demand Conditions in the Nippon Professional Baseball and the National Football League . 15 Nippon Professional Baseball Visitor Demand ...................... ............... 16 National Football League Visitor Demand .... 17 Firm Strategy and Rivalry in the Nippon Professional Baseball ........................... 18 General Information on the Nippon Professional Baseball ...................... 18 Team Ownership Corporations ................ 18 Income and Owners........ .................. 2 0 Nippon Professional Baseball Foreign Player Limitation .......................... 21 Visitors in the Nippon Professional Baseball................................... 21 Relationship between Television Ratings and Visitors............................... 22 Team Results in the Nippon Professional Baseball.... ................,..... ........ 24 Salaries in the Nippon Professional Baseball...... .......................... 26 Revenues in the Nippon Professional Baseball................................... 28 Conclusions about the Nippon Professional Baseball.................. 29 Firm Strategy and Rivalry in the National Football League............................ ... 30 i General Information in'the National , Football League....... ................. '.... 3 0 vii Philosophy of the National Football League..................................... 3 0 Visitors and Television Rating ............. 31 National Football League Team Results ...... 31 National Football League Salaries ........... 32 National Football League Revenues .......... 33 Conclusion...................................... 33 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY Introduction .................................... 35 Development..................................... 35 Sources.......... ,......................... 3 5 Design.............. ............................ 36 Study Period.................................... 3 6 Data Analysis Procedures ........................ 36 Results of Data in the Nippon Professional Baseball ...................... 37 Correlation Analysis for the National Football League ............................ 38 CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS, DISCUSSION, AND RE COMMENDATIONS Introduction .................................... 40 Summary of Findings............................. 4 0 Recommendations for the Nippon Professional Baseball........................................ 44 Name Teams after Their Home City.......... 44 Change the Nippon Professional Baseball Draft System............................... 45 viii Share Broadcasting Profits ................. 46 Blackout Rule and Transportation ........... 47 Institute Salary Cap....................... 48 Summary......................................... 48 APPENDIX A: LIST OF NIPPON PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL TEAMS.................................... 50 APPENDIX B: LIST OF NATIONAL FOOTBALLL EAGUE TEAMS .... 52 APPENDIX C: SALARY AND INCOME DATA FOR THE NIPPON PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL AND MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL......... ........................ 55 APPENDIX D: NIPPON PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL VISITORS .... 59 APPENDIX E: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TELEVISION RATINGS AND GAME GAPS.................... 64 APPENDIX F: NIPPON PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL TEAM RESULTS.................................. 67 APPENDIX G: SALARIES IN THE NIPPON PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL................................. 7 0 APPENDIX H: REVENUES IN THE NIPPON PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL................................. 7 8 APPENDIX I: VISITORS AND TELEVISION RATINGS OF THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE ................. 81 APPENDIX J: SALARIES IN THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE.................................. 83 APPENDIX K: RESULTS OF CORRELATION ANALYSIS FOR THE NIPPON PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL ......... 86 APPENDIX L: RESULTS OF CORRELATION ANALYSIS FOR THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE ............. 91 REFERENCES........................................... 94 ix LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Central League Standard Deviation in Total Salaries...................... ........ 2 7 Table 2. Pacific League Standard Deviation in Total Salaries............... ............... 27 Table 3. Salary Cap Limit in the National Football League .................................. 33 x CHAPTER ONE BACKGROUND Introduction The purpose of chapter one is to summarize the project. This chapter explains the purpose, scope and significance of the study, its limitations, and its organization and methodology. Purpose of the Project This study compares the U.S. National Football league (NFL) and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Football and baseball are different sports, but there is a similarity. Both leagues have been the most popular professional leagues in each country for a long time. However, they achieved success through different marketing and management approaches. This is a very interesting difference, and my question is: "which marketing policy methods are more efficient and will sustain competitiveness in the long run?" The goal of the study is to develop recommendations for the rebuilding of NPB's popularity in terms of marketing policy practices after i the efficiency of both leagues is analyzed. 1 Significance of the Project Identification of long-term marketing policy effectiveness in major professional sports leagues in different countries can potentially help improve both domestic and international appeal of sports leagues and effectiveness of their management. While the main audience for this study is managers working in sport industries, readers who work in other industries may benefit from ■ learning how to encourage a change from non-loyal customers to loyal customers, one of the central challenges for the NPB. Assumptions This study hypothesizes that: > Rich teams tend to be more advanced or successful because they can hire superior players with higher salaries. > Owners think that a higher team winning rate is in direct proportion to higher salary rates for players. > Fans want their favorite teams to become champions, or at least have some wins in a highly competitive season. 2 > Some fans in a league may lose their interest when one team is so strong they can easily estimate results and determine that other teams can't win. A higher winning rate for a team encourages fans to watch more games on TV or visit a stadium more often. Rich teams are more attractive to fans, and in turn tend