The Holding Company System and the Management of Japanese Professional Football Clubs

Abstract

After World War II, the GHQ (General Headquarters) reformed economic policies in Japan. The most important policy was the ban on pure holding companies. Holding companies have been banned by the Antimonopoly Law since the end of World War II to prevent a resurgence of conglomerates, such as the prewar and wartime "zaibatsu", which wielded huge financial power. But in the 1990's, thanks to the movements of deregulation under the recession and the global competition, many persons have come to support the existence of the holding company system in Japan. After a long period of the ban, under the revised Anti-monopoly Law, Japanese corporations have been allowed to set up holding companies since December 1997. This removal of the ban on the holding company system will activate the Japanese economy including the professional football clubs established in the 1990's. Their establishment synchronized with the start of the J. League (Japan Professional Football League). Most of the Japanese professional football clubs derive from companies'football clubs and the subsidiaries of big companies which are the operating parent companies. The big companies sponsor their football clubs in order to participate in the professional league. But being subsidiaries of operating companies, the Japanese football clubs can not realize the ideal of the J. League because of their status. The management of the football club is neither based on the community nor on the profession. The synergy with the operating parent company is not enough. If the holding company system is approved in Japan, Japanese professional football clubs will be able to take advantage of the flexible equity and the empowerment leadership of the management and solve the present problems.