The Suspension of the Panasonic Baseball Team Was Inevitable

Last year, the news that the Panasonic baseball team would be suspended came as a shock.
This is because the old media, which rarely covers industrial league baseball, all reported it as news.
Known as a prestigious team since the Matsushita Electric days, it produced legendary pitcher Takashi Yamaguchi and sinker master Tetsuya Shiozaki.
While I was surprised that such a prestigious team would disappear, I was not as surprised as the media was.
The reason for this was the recent Intercity Baseball Tournament.
I first saw a Matsushita Electric game in 1996.
At that time, the outfield seats were packed, and even later, they drew enough crowds to apply for a specific seed, but last year, they were finally relegated to a lonely slot on a weekday morning.
And then, the announcement of the suspension.
However, I clearly understood whether the Panasonic baseball team was no longer needed.

That is
because it was swallowed up by other sports.
from.

Moreover, those other sports
are all professional or semi-professional.
The sports that existed during the Matsushita Electric and Panasonic eras are
1. Baseball
2. Soccer
3. Volleyball
4. American Football
5. Rugby
.
2. Soccer is Gamba Osaka.
Needless to say, it is a famous team, and they have a wonderful stadium in Suita.
3. Volleyball is in the first division of the SV League; it was formerly the Panasonic Panthers and is now the Osaka Bluteon.
They have won seven championships.
There are quite a few professional players.
Their home is in Hirakata, and they also have an amazing court there.
4. American Football is the Panasonic Impulse, formerly the Matsushita Electric Works Impulse, a prestigious team that won this year's Rice Bowl and has many players under professional contracts.
5. Rugby started with Sanyo Electric and is now the Saitama Wild Knights, with Kumagaya as their home ground.
Of course, there are many professional contract players.
They are also always in the playoffs and similar events.

As you can see, soccer, volleyball, American football, and rugby have many championship titles and are strong.
Therefore, the salaries of the professional contract players on those teams also rise.
However, it is certain that the parent company, Panasonic, cannot be called affluent.
The news also mentioned Panasonic's poor business performance.
So, restructuring is being carried out to improve management, and the baseball team became the target.
The Panasonic baseball team is a prestigious team that has qualified for the Intercity Baseball Tournament over 60 times, but surprisingly, they have never won, and recently they have been losing their strength, unable to win their first games or being eliminated in the qualifiers.
And, as mentioned above, the other sports are strong.
In that case, cutting the baseball team becomes inevitable.
In fact, one of the reasons was that they stopped winning.
The Panasonic baseball brand is now a thing of the past.
Moreover, the support has dwindled.
The vitality of the Showa-era Matsushita Electric is gone.
That is the suspension of the baseball team.