Page "Yomiuri Giants" Paragraph 59

Due to the Yomiuri company's vast influence in Japan as a major media conglomerate, the Giants are successfully marketed to the Japanese people as " Japan's Team.

" In fact, for some years the Giants ' uniforms had " Tokyo " on the jersey instead of " Yomiuri " or " Giants ," seeming to imply that the Giants represent the vast metropolis and geopolitical center of Japan, even though the Yakult Swallows are also based in Tokyo and three other teams play in the Greater Tokyo Area.

This bandwagon appeal has been compared with the marketability of the New York Yankees and Manchester United, except that support for the Giants nearly exceeds 50 % of those polled, while in the United States and England, support is judged to be between 30 to 40 percent for the New York Yankees and Manchester United, respectively.

Correspondingly, fans of other professional baseball teams in Japan are often openly derisive and contemptuous of the Giants ' bandwagon marketing tactics, and an " anti-Giants " movement exists in protest of the near hegemony established by the Yomiuri Giants.