51 Million for Matsuzaka?

Commentators in the baseball community are going to be talking about this bid for the next couple of days. Will the Sox sign a deal, how will Matsuzaka do in Boston. What people don't realize is while the Red Sox did get the rights to sign a 26-year old pitcher, the other main reason was to start gaining traction by marketing in Japan and China.

While American sports fans are passionate, fans in the Far East take it to another level and baseball players are considered to be Gods. The amount of money fans will spend on Sox memorabilia will be enormous. When Hideki Matsui started playing for the Yankees, more than 150 reporters followed him on a daily basis. Now between 30 to 50 press follow him. How many reporters will follow Matsuzaka?

As we know Matsui and Matsuzaka are two of the more popular athletes in Japan and now they will be playing in the U.S. and will be competing in the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry. The Japanese fans will get “sucked in” to this rivalry as well.

From a business of sports perspective, Fenway Sports Group will do everything in its power to generate additional funds for New England Sports Ventures. The will develop travel packages to the U.S. to watch the Sox, they will have additional tourist come for Fenway tours, they will be able to schedule athlete events in other cities to generate more revenue. Over time, they will see a benefit from this signing.

The Red Sox can also expect to see Japanese advertisers who want to develop a relationship with the Sox and FSG. What about television rights for games in which Matsuzaka pitches? The business opportunities are endless