Future of Nippon Professional Baseball?

- I read a while ago that the Japanese league (NPB) attendance has been in decline for a number of years.

That's funny, everything I've read and seen has shown that attendance is fine.

Of course, NPB needs to reform and fix many things: including player development (as there is just 1 minor league level unlike where in MLB there are numerous minor leagues), they need to reform the draft (as has been mentioned numerous times on this website), they need to clean up the numerous under-the-table scandals, find a competent commissioner (one who acts independently of NPB's owners), and many teams need to market their teams much better. But attendance isn't a problem.

NPB's future is not in jeopardy. I'd like to know the sources that you're reading. Most sources in the North American press don't bother fact checking anything regarding baseball in Japan, but assume the worst case scenario they can come up with. Enter "doom and gloom" (with quotes) in the search box above for my rebuttal to some of the arguments.

As far as attendance numbers are concerned, I've been reading almost daily about how, since the elimination of attendance estimates at ball parks in 2005, the numbers of people attending games has risen to new records. Anybody comparing figures quoted before and after 2005 and not putting an asterisk next to such comparisons doesn't know what he/she is talking about.

Prior to 2005, the Giants' attendance at Tokyo Dome was 55,000 per game - every game, regardless of the number of empty seats. The maximum attendance recorded at Tokyo Dome in 2006 was 45,981 on May 27 during an inter-league game between the Giants and Chiba Lotte Marines. You can download the PDF of the presentation I gave at a Tokyo SABR meeting regarding 2006 attendance here [in Japanese]. Note: The figures in my study do not match the official numbers released at the end of the year. There seems to be a bit of disconnect between the official summary and those posted in the daily sports newspapers (my source). But they are close.

One of the stated goals of this site is to clear up misconceptions that the North American press expounds about Pro Yakyu. I'd really like to know the sources you're reading this from so that I can help to educate them.

This has been interesting to follow. It is a case of everyone just assuming NPB will naturally lose legions of fans because of the big stars leaving, but it really hasn't happened. The teams that had big fan bases still do, and the teams that have struggled still do as well. I remember sitting in the outfield even when the Blue Wave still had Ichiro and I had enough space around me to set up a tent and a BBQ. For teams like Hanshin, losing a star like Igawa has done nothing to hurt attendance at Koshien of course.