Sumo is Fixed Like All Other Professional Sports

I've been telling people for years that all professional sports are fixed. They are. Now, today, thanks to my slim and trim friends in sumo, another sports has provided evidence that what I have said is true.


Other sports, baseball, soccer, football, cricket, etc. even tiddley-winks have provided, with amazing regularity, evidence of corruption, one needs only perform a Google search to find enough literature on the subject for a lifetime.


I have been a professional announcer and have worked in the news and the mass media for over 30 years. I've even been a professional sports announcer. I know what I am talking about.


All professional sports are fixed. Japan's sumo is no different. The only professional sport that is on the "up and up" is , amazingly enough, professional wrestling. At least in pro wrestling they tell you that it's entertainment at the start, they don't try to act like "everything is real" like the other sports do.

Jaba the Match Fixer

The reason why I say this is because all professionals sports are corrupted by money. Professional sports are entertainment for the masses. Professional sports are big business. The people who run these leagues are not doing it for fun... If they want to do something for fun, I'm sure they'll do something like stamp collecting or chasing wild women...


There's nothing at all wrong with wanting to make tons and tons of money (nor in chasing wild women)... But, in the case of sports, they always promote professional sports as a primitive  "man vs. man" or "man vs. nature" challenge. 


You won't hear the truth about how money is the #1 motivating, compelling and driving part of the story behind the modern sports of today.


Pro sports are multi billion dollars businesses. The people who own and run these businesses and leagues do not run them to lose money.


So, why are the sports fixed? Because, like I said, they are entertainment. Since they are entertainment, someone has to pay to see the games. 


Once you consider that we are dealing with entertainment - entertainment that must compete with all other forms of entertainment - and, in turn, compete for the same money that other entertainment is competing for, then you realize that professional sports need to well, entertain.  


Sounds silly, but it's not. Sports must compete for the same dollars that Hollywood movies do. It's that simple.  


That means we need to get people to come to our entertainment events (sports games). That means tickets must be sold and someone must pay big money for their broadcast of these games. That means people and sponsors expect to get their money's worth.


This is important. Keep it in mind.


Take the example of CBS who used to do the Superbowl every year. CBS sells commercial time on the Superbowl for tens of millions of dollars. CBS wants to sell 4 or 5 hours of this commercial time to a sponsor. 


If the games are blowouts and 70% the viewers turn off their TVs before the first half ends, sponsors are very upset. When sponsors are upset, the TV stations are very upset. Why? Because, if games are boring and people tune out, if this happens too much and too often then sponsors won't want to spend big money next year because they fear the same thing will happen.


If the sponsors don't pay big money, then who doesn't make big money? The league and team owners. 


If you are an American, you might remember the Denver Broncos getting to the Superbowl in the early 1980s. They got blown out two years in a row. The games were basically over 1/2 way through the second quarter. The viewers turned their sets off. There haven't been any blowouts since then. Is it any wonder why?


Like I said, pro sports are a big business. The leagues have a product to sell. That product is supposed to be an exciting sports event that last for 4 hours and is profitable to their mass media partners too. When the game is over after 45 minutes, there are some very unhappy sponsors and media partners.


The league cannot afford to have that.


This is why, over these last 20 years or so, all major sports events always go down to the wire; especially American sports such as the Superbowl. In recent memory, these games always go down to the last minute... And with that, people complaining about the poor refereeing and bad calls.


Don't people realize that they are not bad calls, they are calls to extend the game to the last minute. They are not bad calls, they are opportunistic calls made to stretch the games out to the end. Like the director makes an edit to a movie script, the league makes sure that the important games stay close until the last minute. 


The game has an exciting finish, the sponsors are happy. Everyone gets their money and we can do the same thing next year.


It's all a scam. All professionals sports are this way.


I've been saying this for years. People always get mad at me for this.


Recently, Japan's traditional sport (it's been fixed for at least a few decades) has been "found out." Matches are fixed and the proof is out. 

Sports are fixed here? Shocked! Shocked, I tell you!

Of course they are. What pro sports isn't?


Kyodo reports:


Two sumo wrestlers and one elder have admitted to being involved in fixing matches in high-profile tournaments, Sports minister Yoshiaki Takaki said Thursday, in the latest blow to the traditional Japanese sport that was already reeling from a string of scandals. The unprecedented revelation angered Prime Minister Naoto Kan and prompted the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, which oversees the JSA, to reconsider the association's future as a government-affiliated entity.


The funniest part about this is the last sentence, "The unprecedented revelation angered Prime Minister Naoto Kan and prompted the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, which oversees the JSA, to reconsider the association's future as a government-affiliated entity."


Ha! Ha! Of course they are corrupt! They are a government-affliated entity. All governments are corrupt too! What do you expect? You just can't make this stuff up. (Psst! Don't look now, but have you ever wondered why the government allowed gambling on horse racing all those years and why racing associations are government run or sanctioned?)


Before you write to me claiming that your favorite sport is not fixed, please Google search, "Bribery, scandal, (your favorite sport's name)" then, write to me about it.


By the way, do not misunderstand what I have written here. I don't hate sports. I like sports. I hate professional sports and nationalism inducing sports circuses like the Olympics too. If big money is involved then it is not honest. Sports are supposed to be honest.


If you want to see honest and real sports, then go to the playground and see kids playing little league soccer or baseball or ?. Those are real sports. The kids are doing those games for the love of the game, not for money. They are trying their hearts out. They cry when they lose. The pros? When they lose, they just worry about their contract next year and wonder what city they will be playing in.


Professional sports are entertainment... No more, no less. Sure, they can be fun to watch while having a beer with friends, but to actually care who "wins" is childish. You'd think that people, after graduating from, say, high school  would be mature enough to throw away the tribalistic type of thinking that makes them feel better and superior about themselves just because a bunch of clowns in leotards can throw a ball in a bucket more than the other guys or something.


Once again, all pro sports are a scam; they are big money entertainment. In truth, they mean absolutely nothing important at all. 


It reminds me of a passage in George Orwell's 1984 when protagonist Winston Smith goes to the restroom at work and meet his boss. His boss says, "Smith? Did you hear the big game last night?" Smith answers, "No!" To that the boss responds, "Now that was an exciting game. What a finish! That's the best script we've written in a long time!"   


Here's another article I wrote about this very same corrupt subject over 5 years ago.






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Marketing Japan: Why Google Worries About its Own Future....

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers

Google is dominating the Internet scene today and seems like they have destroyed the competition. But did you know that there are rumblings below the surface? Did you know that Google themselves fear for their position in the long run? It's true.

If you stop to think about it for a few moments, you can see where Google may be headed for some bad times in the very near future. Some reasons have to do with Google being so good at what they do that they have created a hole in their armor that can be exploited.

Today, I will lay out just a few of the reasons that Google and outside Internet experts alike seem to think that Google won't be king of the hill for too much longer. Here's why....

Have you ever asked the question, "Where will Google be in 10 years?"

I think a look at what has happened to major terrestrial TV broadcasting stations, or what has happened to Rock "hit" radio in recent years is a good indicator of what might probably happen to Google. If you consider the shape these two entities - TV and radio - are in today, as compared with their dominant position just 15 years ago, then it's not too far of a stretch of the imagination to see Google as, perhaps not a bit player, but not the dominant player.

Why?

I think it has to do with a few things; first the fracturing of the audience and the variety of choice given to us by the Internet due to the Long Tail. Because the Internet allows us so much choice, that choice allows people to exercise their quite unique individual tastes. This is damaging the "hit" market and exponentially growing the "niche" market. When people have many choices, they will exercise that choice.

When there were only 4 types of jam for toast, for example; strawberry, grape, blueberry or orange marmalade, people bought one of those. Now that there are hundreds - and the online stores can carry thousands - people are buying the peach, plum, or Canadian Boysenberry.

When a customer, buys one product, like Canadian Boysenberry, that's money displaced that takes away from a purchase of generic strawberry. That is what is called, "the Long Tail."

(See brief information on the Long Tail see "A Primer on the Long tail" here and "Is the Long Tail all Junk" here. For an in-depth analysis, please read Chris Anderson's definitive work in The Long Tail.)

The Long Tail

What does all this have to do with Google? Ah, there is the crux.

Think of Google search engine like a TV station. The TV station must have very broad appeal in order to survive... Today, this broad appeal actually has started working against them in the long run.

Take the example I often use of TV Tokyo. Let's compare TV Tokyo and, the Food Channel on TV:

TV Tokyo has over 1,000 employees.
Food Channel TV has about 20 employees.

TV Tokyo has a extremely wide target audience of anywhere between 6-years-old kids to 84-year-old seniors.
Food Channel TV has a focused target audience of women between 34-years-old to 50-years-old.

It costs about $150,000 (USD) to buy 25 commercials on TV Tokyo.
It costs about $8,000 (USD) to buy 25 commercials on Food Channel.

Now, the question is; "You are a manufacturer of kitchen appliances and cook ware. Where will you advertise?"

It is obvious that you will take the focused marketing that the Food Channel offers.... Now, extrapolate this into every segment of manufacturing, goods, services and possible sponsorships. What do you get?

You get a market that demands specialization. Isn't it obvious? Isn't that the way everything has been going? What restaurants do well? The family restaurant that has everything, but nothing is especially tasty, or the specialization restaurant that only serves, say, Italian food, or the sushi shop, or the Chinese restaurant?

The catch-all shops are, in many ways, still useful and profitable (see WalMart), but they are getting fierce competition from specialization and will be in the future. People, when given a choice, will choice specialization.

I touched on that in more detail here in "Marketing Japan: Why Digital Conversion Will Destroy TV Tokyo and TBS":

When there are 300 TV channels competing for your attention and sponsor's money - both of these critical factors to the survival of TV (audience and money) will be more widely dispersed.

Think of it this way: You are the maker of, say, outdoor goods like tents, bicycles and barbeques. Say, the price for 25 TV ads on a TV station like TV Tokyo is about $150,000 (USD). The price of 35 TV ads on the sports channel is $14,000. Sure there are more viewers on TV Tokyo, but Sports TV offers a targeted audience of men who like sports (and, by the way, many are probably are married, have families, and like the outdoors).... TV Tokyo's audience ranges from 10-year-olds to 80-year-olds; Sports TV target audience is mainly 30 ~ 50-year-old men.

Now, where would you spend the money if you were the sponsor? 

It is obvious that you would go for the Sports TV. It will be the same for all manufacturers whether they make diapers or women's fashion brand shoes. The diaspora of audience will make targeting even more important as time goes by.

Now, keep this in mind... Sit back and consider... Like I said, if Google were a TV station... Google is a catch all search engine... Whatever you want to search for, Google search engine has...

But wait a minute! What about specialization?

What if some smart Internet site, say a Food Channel, decides that they wanted to corner the market for Internet searches for "Food" and anything at all related to just food and food only.

Some might say, well, "Google will make one too..."

No, they won't... They can't... They might try though...

Think back to the Long Tail and all the millions and billions (more!) niches there are! There are niches inside of niches! Google cannot compete with that...

But a small company focusing on their niche and that niche only can... And they can do very well at it.

Then imagine that every niche in the world had their own search engine. Think of it; anything to do with cars might have their own specific search engine, travel only (then inside of "travel only" sub-niches like "Travel in Western Europe" or "Travel in Lower New Jersey"); the same with sports, medicine, shopping for women's clothes, you name it.

Can you see? Google could never keep up with that.

Google would become like today's catch all TV station and the niche search engines would eat them up.

From what I am seeing, I am beginning to think that this is inevitable... I suspect that Google does too!

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Keywords:
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