"They have a title sponsor for every home game"—there are no better words to describe Rakuten Eagles' extraordinary sales capabilities. This time, we spoke with Ken Ono (Yuzuru) of the Sales Department 1, Sales Division, Rakuten Eagles baseball Co., Ltd., who is part of the elite sales team of Rakuten Eagles, about his career change and his current work.

What were the reasons for changing careers in what you call your "second home"?

After graduating from university, Ms. Ono has a background working at a bank and a major recruitment media company. At the bank where she started her career, she was thoroughly trained in the fundamentals of being a working professional in corporate sales, and after changing jobs, she spent about 10 years working in recruitment support for companies at the recruitment media company.

A major turning point came for Mr. Ono when he was 35 years old. Sendai, where he had been stationed for only one year in his previous job, was actually his "second home," as he had spent his first 10 years there. In 2021, he returned to Sendai after 23 years, only to find that the culture of a professional baseball team, namely Rakuten Eagles, which did not exist during his childhood, had taken deep root in the city.

"I never expected to join the team back then, but I remember feeling very strongly that Rakuten Eagles were deeply ingrained in the city of Sendai and the lives of its people."

She found Sendai, where she lived for the first time since childhood, to be a very pleasant place to live. Even after returning to Tokyo, she felt a pang of regret leaving.

"The city is easy to live in because all the shops and services are concentrated in the city center, and the people are so warm. I've even found some favorite shops. There are countless things I could say about how much I love Sendai."

At the time, I wasn't dissatisfied with my previous job. However, in addition to the allure of the city of Sendai, as I moved into a management position within the organization, I became aware that the "tangible sense of value in work" that I had felt when I was on the front lines was fading.

"I have experience baseball, and I've always wanted to be involved in baseball someday, but I remember my heart leaping the moment I saw the scouting email from Rakuten Eagles baseball Club. From that point on, I thought, 'Oh, I want to try out, I'll give it a go,' and I took action."

Ono's curiosity about professional baseball teams, one of only 12 such organizations in Japan, and above all, the challenge of venturing into an unknown territory where the specifics of what to do were unclear, moved him.

Creating value from scratch: A win-win-win sponsorship strategy.

At Rakuten Eagles, Mr. Ono's main job is corporate sponsorship sales. With over 330 companies currently listed as sponsors, Mr. Ono manages 20 to 25 existing clients while simultaneously engaging in new business development.

Generally, when people think of sponsors in professional baseball, they imagine things like billboards inside the stadium or logos on jersey, but Rakuten Eagles' menu is diverse and continues to grow each season. Among these, Ono says that what he finds particularly rewarding is "zero-based menu development" that is not bound by conventional ideas.

To date, Ono has brought to life a series of unique events that have never been seen before, such as using the stadium to host job offer ceremonies for sponsoring companies and original collaboration projects between sponsoring companies and players.

"I find it incredibly rewarding to take my own ideas, or spontaneous ideas born from interactions with our sponsors, and bring them to life with the help of everyone across departments, and then deliver value to our customers by making them a reality."

One of the most memorable projects Ono cited was an original collaboration project between a sponsoring company and an athlete. Beyond the PR effect on the company name and service name, Ono felt the company's abstract yet passionate desire to "make the people of Sendai love their company"—what Ono called "the romance of 'romance and abacus'"—and immediately began product planning and coordinating with other departments.

This led to the creation of original cards created through collaborations between sponsoring companies and players, photo spots where fans could virtually experience playing against players, and social contribution activities such as donating school supplies to kindergartens, nurseries, and children's welfare facilities in Miyagi Prefecture, depending on the players' performance during the season. Ono, who attended a donation ceremony at a kindergarten near the stadium during the off-season, said he felt the following:

"It was impressive that we were able to fulfill the sponsoring company's wishes, and it was a project where everyone involved was happy, with smiles all around from the children and teachers, and the athletes being very pleased. I don't think I've ever had a job where I could feel the value of my work so directly and tangibly. It was more than just a 'win-win-win' job; it was a 'win-win-win' job for all four parties."

Creating a positive cycle for everyone involved, starting with the stadium and the team—that's the essence of sales that Mr. Ono experiences every day.

What is needed is the "mental stamina" to envision an unknown future.

Now, two full years after joining the company, Ono is calmly observing the structure of the professional baseball business. The process of creating value by involving many people and making extensive adjustments with other departments is indeed a painstaking one.

"It's almost impossible to complete a single task entirely on your own or within a single department. The fact that so many people are involved in a single project is the biggest surprise after joining the company, but it's also what makes it so interesting."

What Ono looks for in his future colleagues is "mental stamina."

There are two main approaches to sales in business: the "problem-solving" approach, which identifies and solves current problems, and the "goal-oriented" approach, which works backward from an unseen ideal or desired state. In professional baseball sponsorship sales, the latter is overwhelmingly what is required.

"Working for Rakuten Eagles often involves being expected to create a future that hasn't been realized yet, an unknown state, by thinking, 'This is how I want the company to be,' or 'Wouldn't it be great if we could do this?' That's why communication between us is very positive. I think people who have the 'mental stamina' to keep thinking by working backward from their goals—how they want to be and what they want to become—can really thrive here."

Then Ono added with a mischievous grin:

"You have to run around the stadium, carry heavy signs and banners, set them up and take them down, so you need 'physical strength' in that sense as well."

Professional baseball is a content with an intense pull. Using that as a weapon, we envision new dreams together with our customers and literally "feel" those moments firsthand at the stadium. In this place, you can experience a tangible sense of accomplishment that you won't find anywhere else.

information

The "Pacific League Sports Job Fair 2026 Summer by doda" will be held in person in Nihonbashi, Tokyo on Saturday, June 20th!
This is a mid-career recruitment event specifically for the professional baseball industry, organized by the six Pacific League teams and Pacific League Marketing Co., Ltd.
Check the special page for details.

PLM Career, a recruitment agency specializing in the sports industry.
https://career.pacificleague.jp/