Seesaw Game Co., Ltd.
Yuki Saito appointed as director and CIO – Plans to develop new sports businesses, including support for athletes’ next careers –
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Seesaw Game Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo, President and COO: Naoto Miyamoto, hereinafter referred to as the “Company”) is pleased to announce that Yuki Saito has been appointed as a director as of today. He is scheduled to be appointed as CIO (Chief Innovation Officer) at the Board of Directors meeting scheduled to be held today. Going forward, we hope that he will leverage not only his experience as a former professional baseball player, but also his perspective as a company manager, to have an innovative impact on our sports business.
With Mr. Saito’s appointment as a director, our company will develop new services such as initiatives for athletes’ next careers based on his suggestions and a youth baseball media business that utilizes AI. ■New service concept (scheduled to start from spring 2024)
1. A new service that considers athletes and their next careers: “NEXT STORIES” (tentative name)
We disseminate content to current athletes and their fans through articles and video content. We introduce former athletes who have retired from active duty and are now active on a new stage by leveraging the experience they cultivated during their time as athletes. We also plan to provide employment support for athletes and hold events through external collaboration.
2. Launch of a youth baseball media project using AI: Creating a future where the activities of each baseball boy and girl are turned into content
We will work on generating articles using AI in order to realize the following: “The hit I made was written up in an article!” or “The game I suppressed became the news!” AI will solve the current situation where it is difficult to send reporters to every match and obtain video footage with limited resources. We will work on developing new services to create a world where we can record not only memories but also content. First of all, we plan to start providing automatically generated articles using AI for all official Nippon Professional Baseball farm games (Eastern League/Western League) on Baseball King, a baseball specialized web media operated by our company.
■Message from Yuki Saito
It fascinates people so much and brings so many people together. I think sports is humanity’s greatest invention. I really think so. I felt that SSG was also a group of people with the same thoughts. A company of people who are fascinated by the incredible power of sports and truly believe in its infinite possibilities. As someone who has experienced both glory and setbacks as an athlete, I thought it would be very rewarding for me to participate if I could help create initiatives that bring people and sports closer together than they currently do.
There are two things I would like to suggest first, which are part of what I will do from now on.
One is to support athletes in paving the way for a second career. In addition to disseminating information that is useful for thinking about your career, we aim to employ former athletes as SSG members and develop unique content and services that leverage their abilities and experience. I know that this is a difficult problem that has not been solved until now. This may be a small action for the sports world as a whole, but as a company that respects athletes, we want to do our bit. The other is to focus on baseball boys and girls. When people write about themselves, they become motivated. We would like to utilize advanced technologies such as AI to expand the range of people covered by the media.
A new company that enlivens sports.
Seesaw Game Co., Ltd.
From Yuki Saito, Director and CIO.
■Profile of Yuki Saito
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Born on June 6, 1988. Born in Ota City, Gunma Prefecture. In 2006, when he was a third year high school student at Waseda Jitsugyo High School, he participated in the summer Koshien tournament as an ace and won the national championship. He created a huge fever as the “Handkerchief Prince”. Even after entering Waseda University, he continued to achieve brilliant results and won numerous laurels. As the number one right-hander in amateur baseball, he joined the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters with the first pick in the 2010 draft. He recorded 6 wins in his rookie year and also served as the starting pitcher in 2012, his second year as a pro. From 2017, he changed his uniform number to “1”, which he was familiar with during his amateur days. However, he was plagued by repeated injuries and his pitching numbers did not increase, and he announced his retirement in October 2021. After retiring, he established his own company, Yuki Saito Co., Ltd., in December. Under the slogan of “Creating the Future of Baseball,” we are currently working towards the realization of various projects.
■About Seesaw Game Co., Ltd. (https://seesawgame.co.jp/)
We operate one of Japan’s largest specialized sports media outlets covering soccer, baseball, basketball, etc., as well as multipurpose sports facilities. We provide information services that enrich your daily life through sports.
Company name: Seesaw Game Co., Ltd.
Address: 1-9-1 Higashi-Shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Establishment: December 26, 1989
Representative Director, Chairman and CEO: Ken Uryu
Representative Director, President and COO: Naoto Miyamoto
Business content: Sports information business