Whatever the bj-league is doing to promote itself across the nation, it isn't working. In fact, it's failing miserably to attract anything that resembles a decent-size fan base.

To examine the problem, let's take a look at 10 regular-season games from the first four weeks of the season:

• On Oct. 23, the Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix-Toyama Grouses game in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, attracted 643 fans. A day later, the same teams had an audience of 828.