Fubon Financial Holding Co yesterday ended months of speculation by announcing that it is to take over the EDA Rhinos baseball club in a NT$280 million (US$8.96 million) deal, reportedly moving the team to the Taipei area.
Fubon Sports & Entertainment Co president Chris Tsai (蔡承儒) signed a memorandum of understanding with EDA Sports and Entertainment Co chairman Yang Sen-lung (楊森隆) at a ceremony in Taipei, with Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) commissioner John Wu (吳志揚) in attendance.
“We hope to turn baseball and basketball into a part of everyday life for Taiwanese,” Tsai said. “The more we put into it, the more we can get out of it. If the ball club is well run, we can get reciprocal benefits and return on our investment from sports fans.”
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
“I have watched baseball since my childhood. In this country, it’s a habit to watch Taiwanese baseball,” he said. “This is a dream come true for me and the same for the elderly members of my family.”
Tsai said he is prepared to invest money rather than turning a profit in the short term, “but I hope to minimize the financial losses and have a target of three to five year, or even seven years, before we can turn a profit. I know that other ball clubs had been operating for a long time before they gained some financial benefits.”
The move is seen as a big boost to the standing and financial health of the CPBL, which has had to overcome crises in the past, with ball clubs going out of business, dwindling revenue, declining fan interest and game-fixing scandals, but has been experiencing an upswing in fortunes in the past few years.
Sports fans and government officials have called on the CPBL to expand from four to six teams, as the current format limits its operations. The other three teams are the Uni-President Lions, the Lamigo Monkeys and Brothers Baseball Club.
The league and the other clubs have all given their blessing to the transition in ownership from Kaohsiung-based E-United Group to Fubon Financial, which is controlled by the Tsai family, whose vast business empire also includes Lin Yuan Group and Cathay Financial Holding Co.
E-United Group announced it was putting the EDA Rhinos up for sale in June, with group owner Lin Yi-shou (林義守) saying that the team had not performed up to expectations and he had decided that he was losing too much money.
“I spent more than NT$100 million on the team, but the players did not take the game seriously and put in poor performances,” Lin was quoted as saying at the time.
The change in ownership will likely mean the club will move north, as Fubon Financial is headquartered in Taipei, with reports suggesting the Tsai family will base the team at the Sinjhuang Baseball Stadium in New Taipei City or at the Tianmu Baseball Stadium.
Tsai reportedly denied that the team would be renamed the Fubon Bulls and since he has professed to have been a fan of the now-defunct Weichuan Dragons, who were CPBL champions from 1997 to 1999, some fans have speculated he may be considering the name “Fubon Dragons.”
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