On the 16th, Nippon-Ham held a press conference at Escon and announced that the appointment of Ken Maezawa (51), Managing Director and Head of Development, as the new president had been approved at the shareholders' meeting and board of directors meeting The Fighters ES CON FIELD & Entertainment Co., Ltd., which operates Escon Field Hokkaido. Former president Masaru Komura (60) will become a director and will continue as the team president.

New President Maezawa is the central figure who launched Escon from the project stage. "In order to grow further from here, I believe that we need to combine tourism development with urban development. We want to contribute to Hokkaido by further evolving in a hybrid form of these two." With a new station scheduled to open in 2028, he indicated his intention to develop the area into an integrated urban area, incorporating educational institutions, residences, and office functions.

The focus now shifts to the relocation of the second-string team's facilities within Hokkaido. Five cities—Eniwa, Ebetsu, Tomakomai, Sapporo, and Chitose—were being considered as candidates. However, President Maezawa revealed the current situation, stating, "It's difficult to compare it to here (Escon), but the idea of growing together with the local community is probably the same. Currently, we're having various discussions with three municipalities—Eniwa, Ebetsu, and Tomakomai—and I've heard that we could manage well in any of those three cities, so I'm not too worried." This suggests that the options have already been narrowed down to three cities.

Also on this day, Nippon-Ham 's headquarters acquired shares from Sapporo Dome and others, making the team a wholly owned subsidiary. Team president Komura explained, "We decided that this would be the best way to move forward with a sense of urgency."