Tokyo Television's baseball team program encountered a major problem.
The program was initially lukewarm, with ratings that were just average. However, as time went on and they focused on broadcasting games, it received more and more attention. Especially the game between Seido High School Baseball Team and Yakushi High School Baseball Team, which Tokyo Television heavily promoted.
The program became an instant hit, with ratings even surpassing professional baseball games on the same day. Sponsors who were not very interested initially also saw its potential. Even though there were only a few episodes left, they eagerly came running, insisting on naming rights and sponsorship. Tokyo Television not only gained a wave of ratings but also reaped substantial material rewards.
However, the ratings dropped again in the two subsequent semi-final matches.
Originally, without so many sponsors, the TV station was more accepting of fluctuating ratings. But now that they had taken money from sponsors, as the saying goes, "taking people's hands makes one soft, eating people's mouths makes one short." They had to consider the sponsors.
The broadcast of the two semi-final matches was actually still better than the beginning of the program. But compared to the previous episode, the data was at least half worse.
In this situation, the production team naturally had to do their best to recover losses. Their only chance now was the final match. They didn't demand that the ratings for the final must surpass the previous Seido and Yakushi match. But at the very least, they had to be similar. Otherwise, they would feel truly guilty about taking the sponsors' money.
In other tournaments, when two arch-rivals met in the final, like the usual Seido and Ichidai Third High School, such a game wouldn't require anyone to do anything. The players of the two teams would fight like a raging furnace themselves.
But this was the Spring Tournament final, and the two teams had no other goal except to contend for that seemingly useless championship.
Ichidai Third High School had already secured a spot in the Kanto Tournament when they reached the top eight in the Spring Koshien. The seed spot had also been secured when they reached the top sixteen.
Considering that the two teams would also meet in the Kanto Tournament and Summer Tournament later, they truly had no need to go all out and fight tooth and nail at this time.
Displaying their full strength now would not benefit either team; on the contrary, it would be extremely detrimental.
After all, in the Kanto Tournament, other strong teams from the Kanto region were eyeing them covetously. Looking further ahead, in the Summer Tournament, they might also encounter each other.
Many of the Tokyo Television staff were fans of high school baseball and understood this situation perfectly. Every time it came to the Spring Tournament final, the participating teams were often the most lax. If both sides were powerhouses, there was a high probability that they would directly send in substitutes to play.
Those staff members had seen such scenes countless times before. But when they watched them in the past, they had never thought this matter would affect them personally. Now it truly and surely did.
Even if Seido High School Baseball Team and Ichidai Third High School Baseball Team gave face to the TV station in the final and sent out their main players, they might still play a tacit game.
They probably wouldn't display their true strength. From the teams' perspective, there was certainly no problem with doing so. However, from the TV station's standpoint, considering the ratings and the sponsors' interests, they could not remain indifferent.
Nitta, the person in charge of the baseball team program, was already racking his brain over this matter. He truly didn't know what to do.
He even thought about whether to increase the prize money for the championship. But this suggestion was quickly rejected by the TV station. Increasing the prize money for this year was certainly not a problem; with Tokyo Television's wealth, they could afford it easily.
But what about later? Would future Spring Tournaments be as popular as this one? Not to mention, they originally had an organizer, and it would also be inappropriate for Tokyo Television to intervene like this.
After this was rejected, Nitta and his subordinates came up with several more plans. But these plans, without exception, were all overturned in the end.
There's a saying: "Who can stop a young samurai from going to his death?" They can't hear it. Nitta's feeling now was completely the opposite. Who could stop these two teams from playing a tacit game and slacking off in the final? They also couldn't hear it. Who can wake a person who is pretending to be asleep?
Just as Nitta was losing hair over this, his supervisor couldn't stand it anymore and took over the task himself.
"Have you interviewed the two teams? Is there no clash between them?"
"I went for interviews. The coaches of both teams very politely praised each other, being so humble they almost lowered themselves into the dirt."
"Let me see!"
After looking at the interview report, Nitta's superior, a middle-aged man with a potbelly, looked at Nitta with regret.
"Nitta-kun, you are still too young. If you interview like this, it would be a miracle if you found any problems..."
"Department Head, what do you mean?"
"You should do this..."
After hearing his department head's words, Nitta's eyes were filled with disbelief.
"Is that okay?"
Nitta had entered the workplace not long ago and had everything going smoothly except for this current vexing issue. So much so that he had even thought this world had become more beautiful than before. Yet now, the superior who had always cared for and looked after him had given him such an idea.
"First of all, this is our task, and your goal is to complete it. As long as it doesn't go against your conscience and doesn't violate the law, there's nothing else that isn't allowed."
Reporters were inherently a group of people who enjoyed watching a spectacle and didn't mind making a fuss. A reporter who didn't actively stir up trouble was already considered to have a very good conscience.
Nitta nodded. "I understand, Department Head."
After bidding farewell to his supervisor, Nitta immediately took his subordinates to interview Ichidai Third High School. This time, he had to hurry. The final was tomorrow, and they didn't have much time left.
If they didn't break out some sensational news before tomorrow morning, fans who knew the default rules of the Tokyo Spring Tournament might lose interest in the final. If they weren't interested, they naturally wouldn't watch on time, and might not even click on the video later. This was something Nitta could not accept no matter what.
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