Should Seibu Move?

I think Seibu just needs to sell the team or drop the company name from the team name. They have damaged their corporate name beyond repair. The dome was a white elephant from the beginning. I would love to see a team move to Okayama/Kurashiki. Muscat Stadium would not need to be expanded at all. The people in the area are generally Hanshin Tiger fans, but they may support a Pacific League team if the ticket prices are right.

As Mr. Whiting has said in his series of articles, Japanese teams pay stupid prices on stadium leases. An area the size of Okayama/Kurashiki would love to have a team and the local governments should be willing to iron out a "good" lease for a team.

- The people in the area are generally Hanshin Tiger fans, but they may support a Pacific League team if the ticket prices are right.

Though we all saw how well the Orix BlueWave did in Kobe, and how well the Kintetsu Buffaloes did in Osaka, both of whom were inside Hanshin territory. Until Seibu or whoever owns the team buys a clue, competing with Hanshin will be a disaster.

Seriously, if you asked me what the problem is with getting people to attend Seibu games, I'd say it's pretty obvious when looking at something like this (the Seibu Dome train access guide). It's just pretty far out there distance-wise and time-wise, unless you live in Tokorozawa or something. I can't imagine it's easy to get to an evening game at 6 pm, even if you leave work at 5pm, from most places.

It seems kind of silly that the Central League teams in the Tokyo area are really, well, central, and the Pacific League teams are both way out there. (Well, to be fair, Chiba Marine Stadium's actually pretty accessible because of the nearby Makuhari Convention Center, but it's still a hike.) Maybe if Seibu could actually move their team into the city? I mean, the Fighters didn't draw well when they shared the Tokyo Dome because they weren't winning a lot of games, so could the Lions draw more there as a winning team?

I don't really know.

Moving Seibu into Tokyo would mean competing with Giants and Swallows. This isn't really an option unfortunately. Seibu need to base themselves in a city with a region that isn't exploited yet. Nagasaki springs to mind as you could pull people from Softbank.