2008 NPB Team Salaries

NPB (estimated) salary figures for 2008 were released by the Players Association in May (Japanese). Here’s the raw data.

		Non-imorts		Imports		1$=105JPY (08.6.7)
Team	Lg	Players	Salary (k JPY)	Players	Salary (k JPY)	Total (k JPY)	Total (m$)
Tokyo Yomiuri Giants	CL	62	3,416,330	6	1,853,000	5,269,330	50.18
Hanshin Tigers	CL	63	3,324,500	5	585,000	3,909,500	37.23
Chunichi Dragons	CL	61	3,084,000	6	800,900	3,884,900	37.00
Fukuoka Softbank Hawks	PL	62	3,378,800	6	375,000	3,753,800	35.75
Chiba Lotte Marines	PL	61	2,087,800	6	636,000	2,723,800	25.94
Orix Buffaloes	PL	62	1,586,800	6	991,000	2,577,800	24.55
Yokohama BayStars	CL	63	2,016,800	6	385,000	2,401,800	22.87
Tokyo Yakult Swallows	CL	62	1,724,400	5	561,000	2,285,400	21.77
Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters	PL	61	1,800,300	4	391,000	2,191,300	20.87
Saitama Seibu Lions	PL	62	1,876,100	4	280,000	2,156,100	20.53
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	PL	60	1,419,100	4	480,000	1,899,100	18.09
Hiroshima Toyo Carp	CL	63	1,227,500	6	296,000	1,523,500	14.51

*CL: Central League, PL: Pacific League 

*Import rules can be a bit complicated, as when a player is eligible for the draft (by attending a Japanese high school/university, etc.) and is selected in a draft, or has spent a certain number of years in NPB, they do not count against the import limit.

Just a quick note that the Giants outspent the Carp by an astounding 3.46 times. If the NPB wants to grow as a whole, instead only a few rich clubs (Giants, Tigers), there needs to be some sort of revenue sharing and salary cap and floor system implemented because NPB is not a league that has promotions and demotions like soccer’s J.League where financially and organizationally stronger clubs naturally rise to the top division (even though the soccer model tends to promote superclubs that far outspend their lower ranked opponents too, but that’s a whole another matter).

But then again financial parity doesn’t necessary promote greater competition, as shown by the cheaper clubs that have been competing for playoff spots in recent years in both MLB and NPB, while rich clubs have been known to underperform, so money isn’t everything, but it helps.

And since the Giants and Tigers are reportedly making profits, they clearly have the financial clout to enter MLB (especially with increased TV revenue, assuming all things being equal of course, a big if).

Also interesting to note that the Tigers are having the most success this year (so far) without spending much on foreign players (only 5th in NPB on total import salaries despite being the best team in Japan), relative to other big spenders.

The data from Zakzak (since I think the archive disappears after a while):