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 A set of recommendations to lift growth in Japan's economy
drafted by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's party seen by Reuters calls
for slashing corporate taxes, reforming public pensions, and -- in a
curve ball -- increasing the number of professional baseball teams
to 16 from 12.
"Prosperous baseball teams could strengthen attachment to regional
cities and help local economies thrive," said the report, which
cited the success of U.S. Major League Baseball in nearly doubling
from 16 teams to 30 since the 1960s.
Baseball is one of the most popular sports in Japan and draws more
than 20 million fans to games each year, four times more than
Japan's professional soccer J.League's top division.
Okinawa, where Abe is pushing to complete a long-planned relocation
of a U.S. military base, could get government support to lure a
baseball team, the report said.
Shizuoka, west of Tokyo, and two isolated areas that are losing
population as Japan's population ages -- the island of Shikoku and
the snow country centered on Niigata -- were also named as sites for
possible new teams.
Baseball has deep roots in Japan, dating back to the 1870s, when the
country began modernizing, and has spun off global stars such as New
York Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka and Texas Rangers' ace Yu
Darvish.
But most professional teams survive in Japan because losses can be
treated as tax-deductible marketing costs for corporate sponsors,
such as such as Orix Corp and Yakult Honsha Co.
For that reason, one expert was skeptical of the economic punch from
launching new franchises.
"Unless there are companies that are willing to sponsor the new
teams, this could be difficult," said Munehiko Harada, professor at
the faculty of sport sciences of Waseda University.
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"Without a solid financial foundation, it would be hard to poach
good players and balance the strength of the teams."
Japan's current two-league system faced a critical moment a decade
ago, when financial difficulties forced railway operator Kintetsu
Corp to give up the ownership of its club.
Billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani's e-commerce company Rakuten Inc
stepped in to create a new team in Sendai, north of Tokyo, in a move
that saved the two-league system.
The Liberal Democratic Party's draft proposal on economic reforms
was submitted to Abe, who is readying an announcement of reforms
next month designed to help spur growth in the world's third-biggest
economy. It was unclear if the baseball proposal would be included
in Abe's final report.
(Reporting by Junko Fujita,; Editing by Kevin Krolicki and Clarence
Fernandez)
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