Hanshin League championship, economic impact of 105.1 billion yen; ``Next time will be 3rd consecutive victory'' already expected

The Hanshin Tigers, a professional baseball team, became the first team in team history to win back-to-back Central League titles. There were also voices of joy from the business community.

Masayoshi Matsumoto, chairman of the Kansai Economic Federation (chairman of Sumitomo Electric Industries), made a comment, praising the team, saying, ``The battle for victory was fought until the final stages of the league, but the collective strength of the team made it possible to achieve this feat.''

Expectations are also rising for increased consumption through winning sales and other initiatives. ``We are looking forward to seeing a bigger economic effect than last year, and are looking forward to playing in the Climax Series and becoming number one in Japan for the first time in three years.''

The economic effect of the Hanshin championship was approximately 105.1 billion yen nationwide. Katsuhiro Miyamoto, a professor emeritus at Kansai University who publishes the economic effects of championships for professional baseball teams every year, made his estimates again this year. This includes indirect ripple effects such as increased drinking spending by fans who felt better after winning, victory sales at department stores, and sales of Hanshin goods.

The economic effect of last year's Hanshin championship was approximately 108.4 billion yen, and it is expected to decrease slightly this year. The reason for this is that ``Generally, when there are consecutive wins, the excitement is a little less.''

Two representative secretaries of the Kansai Association of Corporate Executives also issued a statement, saying, ``This is a great feat for the team to become the first team to win consecutive league titles since its founding, and the way they continued to challenge and work hard to win consecutive championships from the peak of last season gave courage and inspiration to many people.''

When I asked Hiroshi Ozaki (76), former president of the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry and advisor to Osaka Gas, who is known in the Kansai business world for his passionate Hanshin Tigers fans, he expressed his hopes for a third consecutive league title.