21 Jun 2004(Mon)

The current problems within Ｊapanese baseball serve as a timely reminder for Ｊ.League clubs in the way they run their business.

Quite simply, clubs Ｊust can't keep on spending billions of yen if they are not bringing it in. It's basic economic sense, but too often in professional sport around the world this concept is ignored.

On some occasions it can lead to ruin, for example the Yokohama Flugels.

Those were dark days for the Ｊ.League, and I am sure many people within "Old Ｊapan" (meaning the baseball world) were predicting the beginning of the end for professional football.

But clubs tightened their belts, stopped paying ridiculous salaries to foreign players and tried to bring on more young players from within their own youth and Ｊunior youth teams.

This is not to say that some clubs don't continue to live beyond their means...spending far more than they earn...but it's nowhere near the 4 billion yen losses chalked up every year by the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes.

Ｊ.League chairman Masaru Suzuki says "almost" all clubs now understand the importance of balancing the books.

Back in England, I grew up as a Halifax Town fan. This was my hometown, near Leeds in the north of England.

Halifax Town was formed in 1911, and is now in the Conference (England's fifth division after the Premiership, first, second and third divisions).

A home attendance of 2,000 was a good day, and crowds often fell below 1,000, even when my team was still in the Football League third division.

Not a lot of money was coming in, so not a lot went out. Once every two years or so they would find a good player, develop him and sell him to a bigger club, and this money would help to keep Halifax Town running for another two years.

The Ｊ.League occasionally has seminars with marketing people from top Premiership clubs. Sometimes I think it would be a good idea to invite someone from a small club such as Halifax Town, and they can inform Ｊ.League clubs of how to survive on a low income and low fan support.

The signs are good for the Ｊ.League, though, with four new teams applying to Ｊoin for next season. Two of them will be invited into Ｊ2, as Ｊ1 will expand from 16 to 18 teams in 2005.

But the baseball problems should serve as a warning to keep the books balanced.

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