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New Japan Pro-Wrestling has new owners! After seven years of being majority owned by the video game company Yukes, NJPW has changed hands and has been purchased by Bushiroad Inc.. Bushiroad is an anime/manga media company that has several successful card games, a few video games and a bunch of internet radio stations. It has shown rapid growth of late, with their capital listed at around 99,500,000 JYP (approx 1.3 million USD). Bushiroad appears to have no only bought out Yukes’ 51.5% majority of shares but the rest of the shares as well, and now owns 100% of the company (10,000,000 shares). Rumor has it New Japan was sold for 500 million yen or $6,550,000. The reasons behind the sale are not clear but it is thought that Yukes may be cutting costs.
Bushiroad has been a sponsor of New Japan events for several years now, including last year's G1 Climax, so is no stranger to the promotion it now owns. What special plans, if any, Bushiroad has for New Japan will be revealed at a special presentation on February 29th.
The president of Bushiroad - Takaaki Kitani - did drop some hints though, suggesting they want to appeal to wrestling fans of all ages and perhaps grab the attention of more young people. And they are not content with New Japan being merely the domestic giant of professional wrestling, they want the company to be known around the world.
Encouragingly the president is a lifelong fan of pro wrestling, saying he was a big fan of Inoki and was obsessed with wrestling. New Japan wrestlers were very thankful to Yukes as fans also will be, as by purchasing the company they helped lay out a platform for a rebuilding process that has dragged New Japan from a bad state where extinction wasn’t out of the question into a very healthy state now. The Bushiroad-owned New Japan and Yukes will retain a close relationship.
Bushiroad has been a sponsor of New Japan events for several years now, including last year's G1 Climax, so is no stranger to the promotion it now owns. What special plans, if any, Bushiroad has for New Japan will be revealed at a special presentation on February 29th.
The president of Bushiroad - Takaaki Kitani - did drop some hints though, suggesting they want to appeal to wrestling fans of all ages and perhaps grab the attention of more young people. And they are not content with New Japan being merely the domestic giant of professional wrestling, they want the company to be known around the world.
Encouragingly the president is a lifelong fan of pro wrestling, saying he was a big fan of Inoki and was obsessed with wrestling. New Japan wrestlers were very thankful to Yukes as fans also will be, as by purchasing the company they helped lay out a platform for a rebuilding process that has dragged New Japan from a bad state where extinction wasn’t out of the question into a very healthy state now. The Bushiroad-owned New Japan and Yukes will retain a close relationship.
A сега пък се чуха още неща относно плановете на новите собственици:
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New Japan recently averaged around 130 shows per year, down from the 300 they ran in the 1980s. Kidani said he wants to reduce the number of shows even more, saying the wear-and-tear on the wrestlers is too much and it will prolong their careers.
When asked where he would make up this income he said: more Pay-Per-Views, event program sales and a card game. He said outside the card game, he wants to offer a larger range of merchandise including t-shirts and action figures for all the wrestlers. He also wants to make the live show production and arenas more "showy". He also mentioned TV Asahi.
They will keep the characteristics of New Japan Pro-Wrestling, so there won't be any drastic changes inside the ring/style-wise.
He wants to regain the 35+ age demographic which has slipped (it was 20% of the fanbase), and said it's almost impossible to gain a quick boost in the youngest demographic (little kids). He also wants to target the 15+ age demographic for future fans. He said he's looking to Okada (24) to be a type of "big brother" character to this demographic, and Tanahashi (35) to get back the more old school fans.
He wants to enter the Mexico market more, and also mentioned Singapore as a place he wants to center on in Asia (apparently Bushiroad already has an existing office there), but also wants to expand in Asia as a whole.
To him the 1/4 Tokyo Dome show is a staple and he wants it to be a bigger world event.
He wants to organize and put out the full 2012 schedule as soon as possible.
As a kid he was huge fan of the World Tag League and a fan of tag team wrestling. So he said he wants to see more of an emphasis on tag team wrestling personally, and wants to bring in famous tag teams from all around the world to compete in it.
He really wants to try to lure the fans who stopped watching back into the fold. He said one of the problems is the TV show is on too late at night, and those people (35-60) have to work and can't be watching TV at midnight. He said an earlier time slot is imperative.
Also with this in mind he wants to provide on the internet on-demand shows but also place commercials featuring the wrestlers during prime time on regular TV.
All the wrestlers need to utilize Twitter and social media to connect more with the fans as much as possible.
He believes just properly marketing the product will gradually increase the fanbase and he's looking at it long term not a quick fix.
One of the reasons Bushiroad grew so rapidly in the short term is because he placed more of an emphasis and money on advertising and marketing then most companies do.
He said new media will be the "multiplier effect" that will increase sales, but he also has lots of experience in regular TV and "understands that business well."
There are fan events planned where people will get to meet the wrestlers. He wants to get them on internet radio, Twitter and wants to find out which ones can write the best and get them a syndicated column. He feels this way he'll see which wrestlers connect best with the fans and he will promote them.
When asked where he would make up this income he said: more Pay-Per-Views, event program sales and a card game. He said outside the card game, he wants to offer a larger range of merchandise including t-shirts and action figures for all the wrestlers. He also wants to make the live show production and arenas more "showy". He also mentioned TV Asahi.
They will keep the characteristics of New Japan Pro-Wrestling, so there won't be any drastic changes inside the ring/style-wise.
He wants to regain the 35+ age demographic which has slipped (it was 20% of the fanbase), and said it's almost impossible to gain a quick boost in the youngest demographic (little kids). He also wants to target the 15+ age demographic for future fans. He said he's looking to Okada (24) to be a type of "big brother" character to this demographic, and Tanahashi (35) to get back the more old school fans.
He wants to enter the Mexico market more, and also mentioned Singapore as a place he wants to center on in Asia (apparently Bushiroad already has an existing office there), but also wants to expand in Asia as a whole.
To him the 1/4 Tokyo Dome show is a staple and he wants it to be a bigger world event.
He wants to organize and put out the full 2012 schedule as soon as possible.
As a kid he was huge fan of the World Tag League and a fan of tag team wrestling. So he said he wants to see more of an emphasis on tag team wrestling personally, and wants to bring in famous tag teams from all around the world to compete in it.
He really wants to try to lure the fans who stopped watching back into the fold. He said one of the problems is the TV show is on too late at night, and those people (35-60) have to work and can't be watching TV at midnight. He said an earlier time slot is imperative.
Also with this in mind he wants to provide on the internet on-demand shows but also place commercials featuring the wrestlers during prime time on regular TV.
All the wrestlers need to utilize Twitter and social media to connect more with the fans as much as possible.
He believes just properly marketing the product will gradually increase the fanbase and he's looking at it long term not a quick fix.
One of the reasons Bushiroad grew so rapidly in the short term is because he placed more of an emphasis and money on advertising and marketing then most companies do.
He said new media will be the "multiplier effect" that will increase sales, but he also has lots of experience in regular TV and "understands that business well."
There are fan events planned where people will get to meet the wrestlers. He wants to get them on internet radio, Twitter and wants to find out which ones can write the best and get them a syndicated column. He feels this way he'll see which wrestlers connect best with the fans and he will promote them.
Edited by nWoHulkster™, 29 February 2012 - 21:35.
