J.Kim wrote:Kurtz wrote:Ok, so if the extra revenue from Japan offsets the posting fee, then the real cost for him is 8-9 mil a year? That's a no-brainer...
Considering how much the tabloids report about his life and just how popular he is overall (some would regard it to the likes of Ichiro's heyday in Japan), there should really be no cap on how much posting fee the Jays should pay for negotiation rights.
Consider this from the Seattle Business Report in 2005:“the full value of Ichiro to the Mariners franchise is incalculable. … Ichiro is also front and center for the Mariners' marketing and advertising campaign, and thus he's closely tied to ticket sales. Ichiro's popularity in Japan was one of the key factors in Major League Baseball's $275 million deal to broadcast games in that country. And Ichiro continues to draw Japanese tourists to Seattle; 81,000 visited last year. …
In late 2003, the league signed its landmark, $275 million, six-year deal with Japanese advertising giant Dentsu Inc. for the rights to broadcast games in Japan, according to Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal, a sister publication. That deal marked a huge increase from the previous contract, valued at about $75 million over five years. Dentsu subleases the broadcasting rights to Japanese television networks NHK, Sky PerfecTV!, Tokyo Broadcasting System and Fuji TV.
In Japan, Ichiro is a Michael Jordan-esque sports celebrity with a massive following. All Mariners home games are broadcast in Japan, and MLB sells highlight-reel packages to television networks there. TV stations have been known to interrupt their programming to give updates on Ichiro's daily performance during the season.”
And this from a Mariners Fan forum:Though the Mariners must split those revenues obtained from Japanese market equally with all 30 Major League teams, in 2004 they also enjoyed revenues from a half-dozen Japanese firms who bought advertisement at Safeco with the idea of marketing to Japanese audiences watching Mariner games.
That article in the Seattle Business Journal quoted Howard Lincoln as saying, "If there was no Ichiro, there would be no broadcast of games back to Japan, and none of these companies would be interested in Safeco Field."
Considering the cost of advertising space in Baseball stadiums:But the premium space in baseball parks is behind home plate and that's where the Japanese companies want to book. Ads behind home plate are expensive because television cameras are constantly focused there as pitchers and batters duke it out.
Kennedy would not say how much the Sox charge, but advertising specialists said that an ad behind home plate at Fenway can cost as much as $300,000 for just a half inning. Those ads are displayed in rectangles cut into the wall behind the plate and change between innings.
At Rangers Ballpark in Arlington , where the Rangers play, a sign behind home plate costs between $120,000 and $160,000 per half inning, and that's if you buy a full season's worth of ads, said Alicia Nevins , the team's vice president of corporate sales.
Buying for just a few games, as did Dandy House Spa when the Sox played the Rangers April 6-8, costs more. Miura Co. , a Japanese water boiler manufacturer, is in discussions to advertise in the Rangers park, said Nevins.
And considering how a player like Darvish will drive up the advertising revenues through Japanese companies interested in advertising their products through the Jays and Darvish...
From a financial standpoint, even a $75M posting fee will be offset pretty easily by incremental revenues, I think; considering time value of money.
Hell, all the incremental revenues may even cover Darvish's contract which would probably be in the $10-11M range. (on an absolute basis though, not on a TVM basis)
It's a very interesting study. I wonder what the difference is in economic impact on a pitcher vs an everyday player.