Asian club championship

Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. More international games in East Asia is gotta be better for the sport's regionally. I'm just worried that insular domestic fans of the four countries will not attend the games (even in soccer where international matches are more the norm, the attendance for Asian Champions League - or whatever it's called these days - is rather poor).

More details were released about the Konami Asian Cup Series on August 6th. The sechedule:

 Date    Time              Matchup                       Time                Matchup
11/10  11:00 AM China (CBA) vs. Chinese Taipei (CPBL)   6:00 PM Japan (NPB) vs. South Korea (KBO)
11/11  11:00 AM China (CBA) vs. South Korea (KBO)       6:00 PM Japan (NPB) vs Chinese Taipei (CPBL)
11/12  12:00 PM Japan (NPB) vs. China (CBL)             7:00 PM South Korea (KBO) vs. Chinese Taipei (CPBL)
11/13                                                   6:00 PM Cup Final

[Full Story - in English]

The rules and regulations have been posted in English on the Konami site as well.

This event should be the semi-final leadup to a true championship versus the MLB World Series Champions. The time of season and equity would be more favorable than Bud Selig's World Baseball Classic.

The tickets for the Konami Asia Series will go on sale Saturday, September 10th at the Tokyo Dome. Tickets will also be on sale at Circle-K, Sunkus, and Lawson convenience stores. Furthermore, tickets will be available on the E+ website. [Full Story - Daily Yomiuri]

Can I ask a question? There was a lot of responses to the MLB petition for the World Baseball Classic because MLB would be getting the most out of it. But from the looks of this topic, isn't Japan getting the most out of this? Why should it be only in the Tokyo Dome? Just a question.

- But from the looks of this topic, isn't Japan getting the most out of this?

Not really in my view, Japan isn't controlling this like MLB and the MLBPA are controlling the WBC (I know this point is starting to become "ad nauseam" Westbay-san).

- Why should it be only in the Tokyo Dome?

I guess it's Japan's biggest stadium along with Koshien Stadium. Furthermore, it's easy to play all the games in one place instead of playing them all in different places. Even though I would like to see them play some at Koshien and Softbank's Fukuoka Dome, too. Hopefully this touranment will continue to next year and they can rotate to a new stadium next year.

Valid questions. To extend the question, what are the major differences between the Asia Series 2005 and the World Baseball Classic?

First of all, there is the purpose. The stated purpose of the Asia Series is to be the first step to a "world team championship" [Link - in Japanese]. The purpose of the WBC appears to be to promote MLB to more markets and undermine the IBAF's already established Baseball World Cup.

OK, that's not really fair of me. The stated goal of the WBC according to the WBC FAQ is "to increase global interest and produce new fans and players." I'm being cynical to say that it's to produce new fans and players of MLB.

While the NPB is organizing this first event, the attending leagues have all met with one another to hash out how the tournament will be conducted. It is not NPB declaring how the tournament will be run, but a concensus of all the leagues. Contrast this with the WBC where MLB and the MLBPA got together to hash things out and told everyone else how it was going to be. They even had the nerve to issue an ultimatum to Japan to respond by June 30 - to which the Japan Professional Baseball Players Association (JPBPA) responded, "No." Only then did the organizers of the WBC take Japan's objections seriously, but I still feel that they were not sincere in their promises to open up the decision-making process for the next WBC.

The Asia Series is to decide the best team in Asia. The winning team (not league nor players union) takes home 5,000-man (50 million) yen, second place 3,000-man yen, and the remaining two teams 1,000-man yen each for a total of 1-oku yen in prizes. Otherwise, it is the corporate sponsors (mainly Konami) that makes the profit, not NPB. (However, one could argue that Yomiuri's sponsorship, despite the likelyhood of their team being there, is NPB.) The WBC is yet another all star series, this one broken up by geography rather than league. All I could find regarding prizes for the WBC was that the champion gets a trophy [Link - WBC FAQ] while MLB and the MLBPA pockets something like 70% of the profits. I haven't read what happens to the other 30%.

While you can tell that I'm not too thrilled about "yet another all star game," I can see how this would be a tremendous opportunity for South America. South America has already had their best players pillaged by MLB for years, so they wouldn't have a team to send to a World Championship Series. One could argue that they could send Winter League teams, but when? And how do you deal with MLB players on winners in both North and South America? The entire idea of having a championship series based on the winners of several leagues is very Northern Hemiphere-centric. The WBC is actually a good solution to this problem. (I was hoping someone else would point that out in my tirade, but it appears that nobody really has anything good to say about the WBC other than that it's about time there was a Baseball World Cup that the MLB approves of.)

Finally, why should all the games be played at Tokyo Dome? I'm sure that you're perfectly aware that the reason is because it was chosen by the organizing party, just at the finals will be played in North America in the WBC. A nice rhetorical question to show that the Asia Series has no moral high ground in comparison to the WBC in this regard. I was unable to find any information on whether future Asia Series or WBC finals will be held in other countries or not. I do hope that the Asia Series will rotate country to country in the years ahead, but can't say if it will or not at the moment. Call my cynical, but I doubt if MLB will allow the finals of the WBC to be played anywhere other than an MLB ball park.

I really wished that more people would be excited about the Asia Series and its being the first step to a "real" World Series. MLB's World Baseball Classic coming into being right about the same time is rather coincidental. Some might think it was to undermine the idea of such a World Championship Series by issuing an alternative. Nonetheless, that's the series I'm hoping comes about in the not too distant future.

Asia Series should be real interesting! The problem is with the insular Japanese fans. Asian sports don't garner the interest that it should, as a stepping stone to worldwide competition, unless it's the soccer World Cup qualifier. Asian Champions League games draw very poorly, and the lack of interest means that games are rarely televised. I fear a similar fate for the Asian Series, hopefully I'll be proven wrong.

And everyone seems to assume that WBC will turn a profit (to be mostly pocketed by MLB and MLBPA). But I'm not so sure about that. There are lots of expenses to cover, probably, and the fan interest in the States, even for US matches, is questionable.

The WBC is a good idea in concept like Furuta said. But also like Furuta said, "Don't get us wrong. We believe an international touranment is vital. But if you aren't going to make something good, then it has no meaning."

This idea is a good one in concept, but MLB and the MLBPA are going at it the wrong way. MLB and the MLBPA shouldn't be netting a profit (they should be trying to promote the WBC without netting a profit).

As for the Asia Series, I hope it continues also as it is a more plausible alternative to the WBC. No union or league is making a profit off the Asia Series. Also, if it rotates to other stadiums it would be nice, and other countries would be nice, too. I just worried a bit about how it would work with China (as they're not as baseball prepared as Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan).

As for the Asia Series, I'm an interested in it, but living in the United States, won't get to see it most likely, as the games won't be televised for a U.S. audience. I will have to rely on the Internet to keep up with the Asia Series.