Japanese professional baseball team Yokohama DeNA BayStars is releasing an illustrated book of business ideas that it hopes will be applicable beyond sport. Entitled "Tsugi no Yakyu" (Next Baseball), the book will go on sale on Thursday for 1,300 yen ($12.80), and contains 143 ideas selected from more than 600 proposed by players, coaches and staff at the club. The BayStars had originally printed 300 copies in January as a manual for internal use. BayStars spokesperson Jun Kusumoto told SBD Global, "Poplar Publishers, who were producing the book for us, suggested that we put it on sale to the public as many of the ideas could be used not just for baseball, but in other businesses too." BayStars increased average attendances by 22% to 19,801 last year, despite finishing fifth in the six-team Central League. Promotional activities included a luxury "One Million Yen Ticket," which gave four fans premium seats, limousine pick-up and accommodation in a nearby five star hotel, and garnered a lot of publicity for the club. Other changes included the introduction of a Major League-style concourse at its home Yokohama Stadium. Kusumoto: "The book contains all new ideas that might be able to move the club forward, though there is no guarantee that they will all work."
Gavin Blair is a writer in Tokyo.
