"Since my arrival (in Japan (in 1989, I have seen the JBL change to the Super League and now the Shin League without ever really changing its flawed structure. I watched as the J-League captured the hearts of fans and pulled sponsors and TV time away from basketball as the JBL and JABBA (now called the Japan Basketball Association) missed opportunities to build a feasible professional model. A new approach is definitely needed.
"From my perspective, the bj-league is a catalyst that has and will continue to push JABBA to readdress its approach to promoting basketball in Japan. As they continue to grow and build fan bases around the nation, JABBA will have little choice but to recognize them as a partner rather than a competitor."
The author concluded this way: "Unless the popularity of basketball can be raised to a level that appeals to the marketing departments of Japanese companies, basketball in Japan will unfortunately remain in the backseat as baseball and soccer capture the majority share of the sport consumer's wallet."
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The fact that the JBA still despises the bj-league, as evidenced for instance, by petty things such as bj-league board member Tatsuya Abe, who's a "special member" of the JBA, being kicked out of a JBA board meeting a few months back, has made the sport's progress a painfully slow -- and in many ways often nonexistent -- process here in Japan.