Editing Nippon Professional Baseball (section)

==Financial problems==
Financial problems plague many teams in the league. It is believed that all teams are operating with considerable subsidies, often as much as [[Japanese yen|¥]]6 billion (about US$44.9 million), from their parent companies. A raise in the salaries of players is often blamed, but from the start of the professional league, parent companies paid the difference as an advertisement. Most teams have never tried to improve their finances through constructive marketing. In addition, teams in the [[Central League]] historically saw much higher profits than the [[Pacific League]], having popular teams such as the Giants and Tigers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://japanball.com/team/tokyo-yomiuri-giants/ |title=Tokyo Yomiuri Giants &#124; Team Information |publisher=JapanBall.com |date= |accessdate=2022-03-13}}</ref>

The number of metropolitan areas represented in the league increased from four to five in 1988, when the [[Nankai Hawks]] (now Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks) were sold to [[Daiei]] and moved to [[Fukuoka]], nine years after the [[Nishitetsu Lions]] moved from Fukuoka to [[Tokorozawa]] to become the [[Seibu Lions]], and from five to seven between 2003 and 2005, as the [[Nippon-Ham Fighters]] moved from [[Tokyo]] to [[Sapporo]] prior to the {{npby|2004}} season. The [[Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes]] merged with the [[Orix BlueWave]] (becoming the Orix Buffaloes) in the middle of 2004, [[2004 Nippon Professional Baseball realignment|which caused a player strike]] that eventually resulted in the creation of the [[Tōhoku Rakuten Golden Eagles]] being founded in [[Sendai]] to maintain the 12-team balance before the {{npby|2005}} season.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2004/12/02/baseball/mlb/orix-buffaloes-up-and-running/ | title=Orix Buffaloes up and running | date=2 December 2004 }}</ref>

Until 1993, baseball was the only team sport played professionally in Japan. In that year, the [[J.League]] professional [[association football]] league was founded. The new league placed teams in prefectural capitals around the country—rather than clustering them in and around Tokyo—and the teams were named after their locations rather than after corporate sponsors, despite many clubs in the J.League still being owned and subsidized by corporate entities.

The wave of players moving to Major League Baseball, which began with [[Hideo Nomo]], with the help of agent [[Don Nomura]], exploiting a loophole, "retiring" from the [[Kintetsu Buffaloes]], then signing with the [[Los Angeles Dodgers]], has also added to the financial problems. Attendance suffered as teams lost their most marketable players, while TV ratings declined as viewers tuned into broadcasts of Major League games.<ref>{{cite magazine|url = http://www.time.com/time/asia/arts/article/0,9754,127023,00.html|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050322031422/http://www.time.com/time/asia/arts/article/0,9754,127023,00.html|url-status = dead|archive-date = March 22, 2005|title =  Letter from Japan: Go West, Young Man|last = McKillop|first = Peter|date = 18 May 2001|magazine = TIME}}</ref> To discourage players from leaving to play in North America, or to at least compensate teams that lose players, Japanese baseball and MLB agreed on a [[posting system]] for players under contract. MLB teams wishing to negotiate with a player submit bids for a "posting fee", which the winning MLB team would pay the Japanese team if the player signs with the MLB team. [[Free agent]]s are not subject to the posting system, however, and some teams almost never post their players.<ref>{{cite web|url =https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/focus-shifts-to-shohei-otani-posting-decision-after-fighters-win-japan-series/|title =Focus shifts to Shohei Otani posting decision after Fighters win Japan Series|last =Axisa|first = Mike|date = 29 October 2016|work = CBSSports.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2020/12/26/baseball/japanese-baseball/fukuoka-softbank-hawks-kodai-senga/ | title=Hawks ace Kodai Senga can't persuade club to post him, gets raise instead | date=December 26, 2020 }}</ref>