Niigata Gov. Hirohiko Izumida said Thursday he will set up a committee this month for the purpose of bringing a professional baseball club to his prefecture.
"We'll develop a framework in which the whole prefecture will welcome a ballclub. We'll try to move toward our dream step by step," Izumida said in Tokyo.
Enthusiasm has grown for baseball among people in the prefecture since the establishment last summer of the 30,000-seat Hard Off Eco Stadium in the city of Niigata.
The new stadium is scheduled to host an All-Star game on July 24.