Takami Ohbari talks NJPW’s business during pandemic, doesn’t think they would’ve lasted if they continued with business portfolio

15 comments

1. President Ohbari did an interview with Proresu-TODAY which hasn’t really been discussed here.

   Part 1 which is about business during COVID:

   https://proresu-today.com/archives/218499/

   Part 2 about Women’s wrestling and Muto retirement:

   https://proresu-today.com/archives/219099/

   Part 3 future:

   https://proresu-today.com/archives/219101/

2. They are just barely turning a profit again and people want them to give out big contracts to foreigners lol. They have to fix their house first and that starts with their own guys. Those are the people that will sell tickets domestically.

3. Let us be thankful that they’re still around

4. Njpw doesn’t have the television contract money that bigger companies have, it’s not a surprise that a company that relies on live ticket gates to stay afloat could have fizzled out in 2020.

   Good to hear that they’re doing well again, I remember there was an article that said they made somewhere around $50k in one fiscal year, and that was the same year where shows were getting cancelled, Naito got injured early into the G1, etc. In retrospect, it’s a wonder they stayed alive.

   This is also probably why a lot of foreign talent weren’t locked into big contracts and chose to sign elsewhere, or were still working on per-appearance deals. The company doesn’t have the money to offer it.

5. Good thing Ohbari runs NJPW and not redditors who’d gift every foreigner a huge contract.

6. And NJPW fans complain about not locking foreign talent to contracts and act like NJPW is a run by a multi-billionaire or a multi-billionaire son, like WWE and AEW. When in reality just like many other Japanese promotions, they were struggling turn a profit due to forcing to do limited attendance and as well decrease of fan interest during the pandemic. Let’s not forget NJPW executives took a voluntary pay cut, just so the company can pay NJPW’s wrestlers and staff during the first year of the pandemic.

   And before anyone say, “But NJPW signed Mercedes Mone to a multimillion contact, why they can’t do the same to other foreign talent”. I like to point out that Mone is signed to a contract with Bushiroad, not NJPW which allows her work in both NJPW and Stardom. Bushiroad and NJPW doesn’t share the same budget.

7. An interesting point is how badly profitability has been hit. So even despite them heading towards a very successful year from just a revenue perspective profit has been poor. It’s why bushiroad has encouraged a bit of belt tightening

   I think fundamentally they see the light at the end of the tunnel but it’s been a bad slog for 3 years. I just wish fans of both njpw and stardom would be a bit realistic about the state of things. Bushiroad increased advertising last quarter as per their financial report so that’s an expected loss that they will hope translates to profits. The yen is very weak so that’s an external factor they can’t control

   But until the business is overall profitable I’d not expect bushiroad to dump a ton of money into wrestling operations.

8. They’re bleeding talent

9. I wonder how many unpopular decisions NJPW made during the pandemic were due to money, like belts constantly getting stranded in the US, or Okada/Hiromu winning tournaments because it sounds like even travel expenses for foreigners or the smallest amount of ticket sales really mattered to them. Also very curious about how they actually feel about AEW partnership. Probably It made financial sense to make money with them in exchange for their own talents losing on Dynamite, which can be the same for NOAH/NJPW partnership, but if they are able to recover to the pre-pandemic level will they continue this?

10. Im now even more grateful that they still exist

    I don’t know what my fandom for pro wrestling would be without them

11. They need to revamp NJPW World. It’s a 2005 level website.

12. New Japan 🗾 Pro Wrestling has incredible talent and venue production quality, and the audience are dedicated to the entertainment style. I truly hope they negotiate a better network deal in North America.

13. Why, in 2023, they still rely solely on live gate/merchandising? what’s the point of being owned by a TV company and Bushiroad then?

14. Interviews like these make you wonder about the thousands of other businesses in Japan that weren’t so lucky. The Japanese government did incalculable damage to its economy and populace with the length and severity of the Covid mandates, especially continuing them long after the rest of the world had moved on.

15. This information makes me appreciate Naito more for voluntarily taking a 24% pay cut to help the company. Ungovernable but charitable.