Should the red socks and athletics open in Japan?

Question

wut do u think about baseball being an american sport being taken away just to make a little money

Answer 1

If MLB was smart, they'd open the season in Japan with the Red Sox and Mariners.

The 2 biggest baseball heroes in Japan right now are Dice-K and Ichiro. Throw in Okajima and Johjima, and interest for that game would be through the roof.
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Answer 2

The next frontier in professional sports is international marketing and expansion. You've already seen it in the past with the Yankees playing in Japan, and exhibition games in Mexico a few years back, as well as the world baseball classic. You see it with the NFL playing a game in London and the NBA playing some preseason in Europe. At the end of the day, like it or not sports are a business and maximizing revenue is the number 1 priority. By choosing to send the world champions, who happen to also have 2 Japanese players, one of who is among the most beloved athletes ever in Japan, MLB is showing Japan that they are commited to growing interest in the game there and not just doing it as a novelty which is what it would be if they were sending say the Rays and Orioles or the Nationals and the Pirates. And the fact that they can sell a crapload of Matsuzaka jerseys and left over world series merchandise to consumers it wasnt available to doesnt hurt either

Answer 3

i could see a team like the marlins or kansas city go up to play a few games in japan but not the red sox! There are so make people in boston that love the sox and fenway sells out mostly all of there games! I guess they did that cause of the sox ties w/japan (dice-k, okajima...) but still i dont think that was a good decision especially on opening day!

Answer 4

Eh; Japan has been done before. I just hope this time they keep the commercial advertisement patches off the uniforms, unlike in 2004 when the Yankees and Devil Rays had to wear Ricoh regalia (primary sponsor of the games).

It's international marketing, which is mostly benign.

Answer 5

As of right now NESN does not have those games on their schedule of what games they are airing this season, i belive its due in part that the first game starts at 11:05pm EST friday night and the otherone is 6:05am EST sunday morning and with those times it would be extreemly hard to get a decent ammount of viewers to watch. but the red sox vs dodgers game from L.A. Memorial Coliseum will be shown live on nesn 03/29 at 10pm

Answer 6

I think it's a great idea for the Red Sox, though I feel sorry for the A's. Hopefully, they'll secure a one way ticket for the Red Sox and bring the A's back after they beat them. Don't you ever get tired of Yankees-this, Red Sox-that? There are 28 other teams. Geez.

Answer 7

I'd like it except these are going to count as regular season games. I think spring training exhibition games would be better suited for this. I don't like the fact that they are playing 2 games and then coming back to the US and playing 2 more. it's stupid and it will hurt both teams for the first few weeks of the season. NOT A GOOD IDEA!

Answer 8

With all the baseball fans in Japan it is a good place to open the season since both these teams have elite Japanese players on their rosters.

Answer 9

The sport exists to make money and to market itself. It doesn't care about tradition unless tradition is marketed.

Also, not exactly an all american sport, there are the blue jays still.

Answer 10

I think its a good move because it shows the Athletics catcher i frget his name and Dice-K and the closer for da sox. it gets da japanese going and excited to see their stars dominating in other places besides asia.