The Rakuten Baseball Team, which operates the professional baseball team "Rakuten Eagles".On Saturday, january 20th, an online job experience program for job-seeking students called "Rakuten Baseball Team 1-day Job Experience" was held.Approximately 120 students are participating in the program.It was a fulfilling two hours, during which we were able to understand the behind-the-scenes of the team's supporting baseball club.This time, even writers are infiltrating the program!Introduce the program, including planning experiences.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Rakuten Baseball team. Promoting the philosophy of “The Baseball Entertainment Company”, they are developing plans and businesses that incorporate entertainment elements into baseball viewing.

To ensure enjoyment even before the match, multiple restaurants set up shop with the theme of Asian gourmet. Planning such booths and events is also part of the job of the Rakuten Baseball Team.

We have planned a photo event with the player chosen in the hero interview so that visitors can enjoy the afterglow of the match.

“We aim to create a ballpark where you can enjoy yourself for half a day to a full day, in hopes of making you love baseball. We want to create a place that is not merely a venue for watching professional baseball, but a ballpark where people can have the feeling of going out for fun.” (Human Resources Manager Ms. Honda)

Human Resources Manager Ms. Honda says, “Compared to other teams, we are still new, and it takes steady effort to earn affection. We are the only team named after Tohoku. Our goal is to have everyone in all prefectures of Tohoku become a fan.”

They say they are focusing on community-based activities in order to become a beloved team in Tohoku. The coming season plans to hold first team matches not only in Miyagi Prefecture, but in all prefectures of Tohoku. Additionally, they are also planning opportunities for interaction with athletes.

The Rakuten Baseball Team is conducting a program called “1-day job experience” to enable people to get a closer feel of such team’s operations.

Experience the project planning of Rakuten Eagles through a workshop format.

The first topic is “Let’s think about an event that will appeal to men and women in their 20s at Rakuten Mobile Park!”. Participants send in various ideas via chat, such as lanterns, puzzle solving, couple matching, and creating photogenic spots for social media.

Human Resources Manager Ms. Kano “An inventive and catchy title certainly catches the eye! For instance, “Meet Your Partner!” and so on.”

The second point is to research the market and make a comeback. Investigate the data that serves as a foundation, and gather information that will be the basis for the success of the project.

Proposals were gathered from participants, including more specific plans such as the ‘D-1 Grand Prix’, where a dumpling shop from Tohoku opens a stall in the ballpark and decides the winner based on the number of purchases.

A question and answer session was also held with the participants in the program.

Q. Please tell me about the strengths and future goals of the Rakuten Baseball team.(Participant)
A. Our strength lies in the close-knit, homely atmosphere of our local community. For some reason, fashionable and trendy things just don’t seem to click with us (laughs).Conversely, events like festivals and locally-rooted projects tend to be more popular. We want to expand on that, and become a team that is loved by the local community. Firstly, the goal for this year is to attract a crowd of 1.5 million people annually. We are constantly exploring how to attract more people and become a popular baseball team!(Rakuten Baseball Team)

Q. Do you have interactions with sports teams within the Rakuten Group?(Participant)
A. Interaction and information exchange among employees are actively conducted. Soccer team Vissel Kobe, as well as the Taiwanese baseball team Rakuten Monkeys, sometimes come to inspect Rakuten Mobile Park Miyagi.(Rakuten Baseball Team)

Q. What positions do new graduates often start from? Is it possible that the department could change after assignment?(Participant)
A. Initially, many people are assigned to sales positions in order to familiarize themselves with the company’s operations and services. Leveraging the knowledge and experience gained in university, there are also cases where new graduates are assigned to other specialized departments. Furthermore, we conduct job rotations while listening to the individual’s wishes and interests during interviews. After joining the company and acquiring knowledge, there are people who have moved to departments such as the strategy department and the MD concession department, and some are handling public relations work in their fifth year after graduation.(Rakuten Baseball Team)

Q.Is there an opportunity to propose ideas and take on challenges from the first year after graduation?(Participant)
A. There are situations in every department where planning is necessary. For instance, it’s the job of sales personnel to plan the content of sponsored events and booths. Additionally, members for planning projects such as fan appreciation festivals are determined across departments. How to attract customers to an event, and other such matters, are often planned primarily by those in their first to third year after graduation.(Rakuten Baseball Team)

Q. Are many of the staff members from Tohoku, I wonder? Are there originally many Eagles fans?(Participant)
A. While there are more from the Tohoku region, they gather from all over the country, from Hokkaido to Kyushu. There are many people who were fans of the baseball team, as well as many who were not familiar with baseball.(Rakuten Baseball Team)

From the recruitment site.The site also features employee interviews and provides detailed information about the Rakuten Baseball team.

This program held online.The brainstorming sessions for Q&A and project experiences were lively, making for a fulfilling internship. We received numerous comments from the participants such as, “The planning experience deepened my understanding,” “I could feel the passion of each staff member,” “The distinctive color that differs from other teams left an impression,” and “In the workshop, I was able to learn by having my own planning ideas picked up and receiving suggestions for improvement.” The overall sentiment indicated great satisfaction.

The Rakuten Baseball Team supports their team with passion, striving to become a more loved team and to make watching baseball more enjoyable.Heading towards the 20th anniversary of the team’s establishment, we will make further progress.

TEXT : Shiori Saeki (IN FOCUS)