As the Chinese Professional Baseball League’s (CPBL) Taiwan Series drew to a close at the end of last month, the Lamigo Monkeys — quite expectedly — defeated the Uni-President Lions to win the title, claiming the sixth championship in the team’s history.
However, this year’s Taiwan Series did not generate as much excitement as it did in the past. Ticket sales were rather weak, with park attendance averaging about 11,000 per game, a six-year low. This is alarming news for the league’s development.
The launch of the CPBL in 1990 fired up Taiwanese enthusiasm for baseball, but the national sport has lingered on the brink of failure due to five game-fixing scandals during its history.
In 2013, the sport regained popularity following the World Baseball Classic, for which elite CPBL players teamed up with overseas Taiwanese stars. The national side clawed their way to the quarter-finals, reigniting the nation’s passion for baseball.
The following season, the CPBL teams devoted themselves to revolutionizing their marketing strategies by introducing many ballpark entertainments. Teams were unafraid of changing the culture of game watching and ticket sales soared.
In 2009, the league was reduced to four teams — remaining that way until today — and matchups became monotonous. Flaws appeared in the competition system.
Fans gradually lost any feeling of novelty and the passion for watching baseball subsided.
Taiwan Series audiences increased in 2011 and set new records each year until an all-time high was reached in 2015, when fans flocked to see the Lamigo Monkeys take on the Brothers Baseball Club. Each game had more than 17,000 people in attendance and three were sold out.
Last year, Brothers’ management excluded five renowned players from the playoff roster for “disciplinary reasons” and many hardcore fans protested by boycotting games, reducing the paying audience to about 14,000 per game. This year, the numbers dropped further.
The decline in sales certainly caused ticket prices to increase, but so many years with only four teams — which only allows for six different matchups during a season — and a 75 percent probability that a team would advance to the playoffs have also contributed to the waning enthusiasm.
To make matters worse, the league’s bizarre system for advancing teams to the playoffs has given birth to an even stranger scenario, in which a team will spare no amount of effort to win over teams competing for a playoff berth, but will hold back when playing a team that has already secured a slot.
If the sport is to draw larger crowds, the league must expand the number of teams to improve the competitiveness and intensity of play.
Taiwanese baseball has been around for years, but the nation’s sport-watching culture, unlike in the US and in Japan, remains stuck in an old mold that places too much value on trophies and winning.
As a result, national team performance in international competitions always has a direct impact on league ticket sales. The team’s outstanding performances at the 2001 Baseball World Cup and the 2013 World Baseball Classic sparked increased ticket sales over several years.
In the past few years, the national team has had limited success at large international competitions, so the league has received less of a ticket sales boost and interest among baseball fans has been lukewarm.
Next year’s World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier 12 tournament will be a strong indicator of whether the nation is to be allowed to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. An excellent performance by Taiwan’s team would likely boost league ticket revenue, too.
Japan and South Korea have already started preparations for the tournament, but Taiwan still does not have a coach, has not laid out any of the logistics and lacks organizational support. The public cannot help but worry about how their team will fare at the competition.
As the national sport, baseball receives more attention and resources from the government than other sports. To cultivate and establish a sustainable environment for baseball, the government should invest in youth competition in addition to nurturing a professional league.
Japan’s National High School Baseball Championship, also called the “Summer Koshien,” has a century-long history and laid a solid foundation for Japan to become a baseball superpower. High schools in South Korea compete in the Grand Phoenix Baseball Championship, which has transformed that nation into a formidable baseball foe.
Professional baseball is improved by young baseball players pursuing their championship dreams. The development of a professional baseball league relies heavily on growth at the youth league level.
Taiwanese baseball — and the government — should promote youth baseball, eliminate the trophy-oriented mindset and increase the number of baseball players in youth leagues to encourage the national sport.
The rise and fall of the league is closely related to the development of Taiwanese baseball: Without a professional league providing fertile soil, it would be difficult for the nation’s sport to thrive.
Ticket sales are an effective indicator of the stability of the sport. If government agencies do nothing to improve the overall baseball environment and fail to cultivate youth baseball, Taiwanese baseball will only struggle to make a name for itself internationally.
Now, during the league’s off-season, is when the authorities should convene meetings, discuss needed measures to enhance and restore the sport’s popularity, and push to restore the glory of Taiwanese baseball.
Wen Shun-te is a senior-high school principal.
Translated by Chang Ho-ming
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