Sports Business Conference "HALF TIME Conference 2026" Featuring Former Professional Baseball Player/Manager Tomoyasu Kudo Confirmed!

HALF TIME Inc. (Koto Ward, Tokyo; CEO: Yusuke Isoda), which develops recruitment and PR businesses in the sports business domain, announced that Tomoyasu Kudo, former professional baseball player and manager, will be a featured speaker at the "HALF TIME Conference 2026" sports business conference to be held on July 15, 2026 (Wed).

Mr. Kudo will participate as a special guest in Session 3 of the conference program, titled "Redesigning the Japanese Sports World and a Growth Model Starting with the Asian Koshien," where he will discuss the Asian Koshien and the Japanese baseball world, areas in which he is involved.

The conference will be held in a hybrid format, combining an in-person Tokyo venue and online participation, on July 15 (Wed). Tokyo venue tickets are priced at 12,000 yen (tax included) and are limited to the first 100 attendees. Online viewing tickets are free. An archive of the sessions will be available for viewing at a later date for both ticket types. Participation requires advance registration through the official website.

◇Official Website: https://biz.halftime-media.com/f_lps/conference2026

The HALF TIME Conference was first held in 2019, and this will be its 15th iteration. It is the premier sports business conference in Japan, aiming to deliver cutting-edge trends to everyone involved in sports business, with a cumulative total of 5,600 participants.

Tomoyasu Kudo Profile

After graduating from Nagoya Denki High School (now Aichi Institute of Technology Meiden High School), he joined the Seibu Lions. He subsequently played for the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks, Yomiuri Giants, and Yokohama BayStars, experiencing 14 league championships and 11 Japan Series victories during his playing career. Known as a "championship bringer," he achieved a total of 224 wins. He continued to pitch for 29 seasons as a professional baseball player, officially announcing his retirement in 2011. In 2015, he became the manager of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, leading them to 5 Japan Series titles in his 7 years until his departure in 2021. In 2020, he completed his master's degree in Physical Education at the University of Tsukuba's Graduate School of Human Comprehensive Sciences. He entered the doctoral program at the same graduate school in 2022 and is currently engaged in research and medical examination activities towards obtaining a Ph.D. in Sports Medicine. In 2024, he was appointed advisor to SHAPE Partners.

Event Overview

Name: HALF TIME Conference 2026 supported by Accenture

Date and Time: July 15, 2026 (Wed) 12:30-18:10 / Tokyo Venue Networking 18:10-19:30

Format: Hybrid (Tokyo Venue + Online)

Venue: Accenture Inc. "As One Stage"

(15F, Yaesu Central Tower, Tokyo Midtown Yaesu, 2-2-1 Yaesu, Chuo-ku, Tokyo)

Organizer: HALF TIME Inc.

Partners: Accenture Inc., REJECT Inc., SHAPE Sports Inc., hacomono Inc., AiSIA, Playbox Inc.

Official Website: https://biz.halftime-media.com/f_lps/conference2026

Contact: [email protected]

Program

12:30 Doors Open / Exhibition Start

13:00 Organizer's Greeting

Yusuke Isoda (CEO, HALF TIME Inc.)

13:10 Session 1: Risk Management in Sports Personnel, Events, and Venues

Siva Krishnan (Miller Insurance Services (Singapore) Head of Sports and Entertainment Asia)

Tomoyoshi Wakamatsu (Accenture Inc. Customer Value Strategy Unit Senior Manager)

14:10 Session 2: The Current State of the Esports Market and the Potential for Corporate Co-creation

Shoya Kōyama (REJECT Inc. Representative Director & CEO)

Akihiro Satomura (Visa Worldwide Japan Co., Ltd. Marketing Head, Japan, Korea, and Mongolia)

15:10 Session 3: Redesigning the Japanese Sports World and a Growth Model Starting with the "Asian Koshien"

Kenta Komiya (SHAPE Sports CEO)

Shogo Shibata (Asian Koshien Representative / SHAPE Sports Chief Sales Officer)

Tomoyasu Kudo (Former Professional Baseball Player/Manager / SHAPE Sports Advisor)

16:10 Session 4: Next-Generation Development and DX in Professional Sports Club Management

Daisuke Kurita (Tokyo Verdy Inc. Representative Director and Vice President)

Joji Morimoto (Tokyo Verdy Inc. Director and Vice President / General Secretary, Tokyo Verdy Club /

Board Member, Japan Women's Professional Soccer League (WE LEAGUE))

Kenichi Hasuda (hacomono Inc. Representative Director & CEO)

17:10 Session 5: Creating "Sports Innovation" in Local Communities - Case Studies from Aichi and Nagoya

Takeshi Sato (Nagoya Grampus Eight Inc. Public Relations and Hometown Department Hometown Group

Group Leader)

Tsuyoshi Morikida (Hako-bun Inc. Representative Director)

Yoshiro Kurauchi (Chunichi Shimbun Co., Ltd. Media Business Bureau Business Produce Department Manager)

Eri Saisai (Splat Inc. CSO, Co-Founder)

18:00 Partner Company Pitches

18:10 Networking (Tokyo Venue Only)

19:30 Closing