ORIX's professional baseball team started out in 1989 as the "ORIX Braves" and was renamed the "ORIX BlueWave" in 1990. In December 2004, the "ORIX BlueWave" and the "Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes" merged together to form a new profession baseball team, which was renamed the "ORIX Buffaloes." The new team will go on to represent the Kansai region and will continue to play in both Osaka and Kobe. With only 12 professional baseball clubs in Japan, the team provides an effective platform for spreading the ORIX name and forms an important part of ORIX's corporate image and branding strategy.