Hololive
The colloquial name given to Hololive Productions, one of the worlds largest VTuber agencies, a part of Cover Corporation. A sizable presence in the Japanese entertainment market, with a surprisingly impactful presence in the USA and tentacles across Indonesia and Europe. A truly 21st Century sponsor to drive us forwards, with a sole focus to entertain!
IMAX
Arguably the biggest name in cinema technology, IMAX has been a part of the team for many many years. Canadian in origin, they are a truly global brand. Constantly pushing movie camera and projection technology forwards this is a very 21st century partnership, whose mandate to us is simply to entertain!
Gekkeikan
One of the worlds oldest companies, Gekkeikan is a Japanese brewery from Kyoto. An instantly recognizable name across Japan they also have arms in the USA. Their nihonshu is regarded as some of the finest around. Quite the contrast between the ultra-modern and the traditions of nihonshu brewing, but it's just an encapsulation of Japan.
Tourism Fiji
From one set of tropical islands to another, we can try to distance ourselves from the past but it is always there. More than just a tax movement, the Fijians are renowned as the great entertainers in my favorite sport, Rugby Union. So for a team with a premise to entertain there was no better place to do business with, and maybe it'll lead to an all expenses paid holiday?
Bridgestone
Primarily known for tyres, Bridgestone is also a bicycle manufacturer amongst a wide array of other products. A truly global brand that has immense sporting pedigree, any motorsport fan is more than aware of this. Lots of knowledge is brought to bear on this project and return the Japanese brand to the forefront of cyclists minds.
Shimano
It's harder to find a bicycle without Shimano elements, than one with. So why would you not want to take the gold standard of components with you? Reminding the world that Japan is still a global leader in manufacturing and product design and integration.
Sea Turtle Conservation
Fiji is home to five of the seven species of Sea Turtles. And we couldn't leave behind our commitments to improving the worlds. We'll make you laugh with Vtubers, make you gasp in wonder at Imax, and then we'll give you a warm feeling inside knowing these previous creatures are being supported and protected.
Nathaniel Forbes - Cayman Islands RR & ITT
Jesus Roniel Marte - Dominican Republic RR & ITT
Hasani Hennis - Anguilla RR & ITT
Connor White - Bermuda ITT
Tyler Cole - Trinidad & Tobago ITT
Edited by TheManxMissile on 08-07-2026 20:35
No more 'Great Big Posts'! But still the semi-rambling format. The more things change the more they stay the same. Except we really have changed. Podium Ambition is gone, dead and buried. In it's place the brand new entity, Bacharu Mamachari Faito!.
What on earth is "Bacharu Mamachari Faito!"?
Bacharu, or バーチャル, is Japanese for Virtual - as in computer generated/tech, as opposed to fictional. Our new primary sponsor is a VTuber (Virtual streamer) so you see the link. Plus we only exist online inside a video game. See, it's clever!
Mamachari, or ママチャリ, is Japanese slang for mom bicycles (Mama = mom, Chari = bicycle), the instantly recognisable bicycle with a front basket, upright style and low-step frame. Cycling is for all, not just mamil's.
Faito!, or ファイト, is not about combat but instead in Japan is more akin to "do your best/go for it" encouragement. And we certainly need all the good luck and inspiration we can find.
You say VTuber as if that's a normal thing?
This one will very much depend on your age and how much time you spend online. But as a very quick explainer: VTubers are Virtual Streamers (V = Virtual, Tuber = Youtuber but now covers Twitch and other platforms), real people who present themselves online as fictional characters. The origins are unsurprisingly Japanese, and you may well have heard of Hatsune Miku, who falls into a related space. The first VTuber (for simplicity sake) was Kizuna AI in ~2016(go do your own research) but the genre has exploded since then, especially during the Covid years.
Ok, but I need help with Hololive.
The umbrella company, Cover Corp, began is 2016 as an AR and VR (Augmented/Virtual Reality) tech start-up. But by just 2017 had created their first virtual avatar, Tokino Sora, and launched Hololive as a proprietary streaming app using AR to view it's virtual avatars streams.
To cut a story short, they then grew the avatar and streaming branch ahead of the tech side, expanding rapidly over the next year including debuts for the likes of Hoshimachi Suisei and Sakura Miko who have gone on to become household names. And frankly, they've barely slowed down since!
Hololive expanded to Indonesia with Holoive_ID in April 2020, and to the English language market with Hololive_EN in September 2020 (you look at those dates and immediately realize why this company exploded in popularity). In March 2023, Cover underwent an IPO, as an indicator of quite how successful this niche product really is.
Yeah, that's a lot of information i won't remember
I fully understand! But don't worry, i'll be teaching you far more than you'll ever really want to know about Vtubers and Hololive throughout this teams existence!
For example, our jersey (currently) features three Hololive members. On the front we have Hololive Gamers, Ookami Mio - A black-haired wolf girl who appeared on our radar randomly. She often shows up around shrines. She likes gaming. She's my Hololive Oshi. On the back we have Hololive Gamers, Nekomata Okayu - A cat being raised by an old woman that runs an onigiri store. She streams from the computer in her grandma's room. And Flow Glow's, Isaki Riona - The leader of FLOW GLOW. Extremely stoic and hates losing with a passion. She puts on a poker face so as not to be looked down upon, but her heart melts when she sees little animals and spoils them rotten. As a vivid fan of Shonen manga, she can be quite the passionate figure contrary to her cool-headed facade.
Umm... This is still a cycling team right?
Yes! In fact we are not just a cycling team, we are a PCT team! And no crazy regional restrictions any more. Instead we are a truly global team, free to sign any rider from any nation with just one mission statement from our sponsors - be entertaining! Honestly we're not entirely sure how that translates to transfers, but we're just excited to go into them with a bucket load of cash and a freedom to do whatever the hell we like.
In fact we can confirm at least one rider was in fact re-signed from Podium Ambition, and at least one rider was in fact not re-signed from Podium Ambition (this is all we can say for now). Plus, as mentioned before, we have a team jersey!
Oh cool! Your team jerseys have always been amazing!
Damn straight. Except, all of those creators have retired. Sooo... we have to sew it ourselves. From scratch. Having not made a jersey in over a decade. But we did make one, and you can enjoy it below! It's very rough, we're aware none of the lines match, all of the logos and designs will warp horribly. Still, I think it's fun. And it's something I'll continue to fiddle with and try to refine (for the love of god, i need a proper graphics maker to help!) it over time.
Love the concept and the jersey! I'm sure you'll quickly be successful with no more regional restrictions, looking forward to see how the roster shapes up
@Heine - What is the job of a jersey, if not to be visible amongst 150 other jerseys?
@kande - But if you are Japanese, is Western culture not weird? Like, wth is Mr Blobby.
@Cunego - It's both freeing and terrifying, how on earth do i pick Bands and Goals without any sort of defined team?!!
@Dave - VPN's have better uses, but not many
@Caspi - That's the plan, continue to bring a smile and some counter-culture to the MG!
A Few More Key Details
After a positive, if confused, reaction to the introduction of the new TMM MG team era we feel it's time to just summarize a few more important points surrounding the team.
First off, we continue to fiddle with and revise the jersey. New version as you can see is just overall a little bit neater. Shifting the logos around to make them clearer to spot and darkening/adjusting some colors to help with overall contrast and readability. I do in fact understand the elements of graphic design, even if I do not have the talents to translate them to the jersey.
Will there be an NC variant? Unlikely. In part because I have no idea how to turn this jersey concept into an understandable NC variant. Add flags on the white diagonals is about all i've got, and i did test this but it just didn't work. We could use some base NC's and a transferts set but i'm happy to have our NC's (if we have any) just stick to one jersey for now.
The team is here to entertain, does it have any focus nations? Yes we do! We will be targeting a couple of Japanese representatives, and would very much like to add an Indonesian and an American. Beyond that however we just want good riders we believe will be able to contend for results at a PCT level. It would be fun to not be in a PCT relegation battle so we are keeping ourselves wide open going into transfers.
And if you keep returning to this HQ we will keep trying to educate you on Hololive, VTubers and a range of other related and semi-related topics, just because I can. Come back next time when we'll (hopefully) be able to talk about renewals, and we'll explain the link between Hololive and Baseball!
@kandes - The less you know the better in this case
Brutality
This was our approach to renewals. Freed from the shackles of tiny islands we were simply going to be BRUTAL in renewals. Not one rider was safe, and we had firm maximums for everyone we would not cross no matter how pissed off they became. It's a new era so taking as much cap as possible into transfers was the goal. Who made it through?
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
OVR
Age
Wage
Lagane
70
70
74
78
66
70
71
71
65
76
77
70
63
65
76.48
28
185
Hopkins
72
60
63
65
68
73
70
74
55
79
79
63
68
77
75.50
26
125
Forbes
74
63
67
70
63
72
70
69
77
69
70
72
67
63
74.95
24
100
White
77
66
68
69
76
72
74
70
63
72
71
71
73
78
73.90
27
50
Marte
71
65
69
73
65
73
72
69
75
66
68
73
67
62
73.80
25
50
Hennis
70
67
69
70
76
71
72
75
69
75
76
69
68
76
73.75
29
60
Cole
76
64
67
69
76
70
72
67
66
73
73
72
69
75
73.35
27
60
Yo! Shoutout Heine's table tool. I love knockouts file but this is a step-up
It's a massacre! Lagane unsurprisingly makes it through and even takes a wage cut. Can he cut it as PCT level, not as a key leader but we envision him as a more free go-for-it role. Hopkins is newly max'd, and is a bit pricey but this is a rider we can work with and believe can sweep up handy points. Forbes is almost max'd and cheaper, investing for the future here whatever level we are at. White is also max'd and just a super good support piece on the minimum. Marte also max'd, also a nice support option, also on the minimum. Hennis got a pay cut and is a useful helper. Cole is the final survivor, marginal increase but another usable support rider.
€630,000 spent on 7 riders. Leaving a whopping €1,870,000 in pure cap space to sign 13 riders. That's about €140,000 per rider on average. We feel we can build a team capable of surviving the PCT with this. And of course we'll have money for transfers, having completed a couple of goals last year. The challenge is being so flexible, picking goals for this year is a crapshoot so we might just go all-in on goal points and deal with the shortfall in 2027.
Now for the fun part of the post - education! Yep, we gotta explain Hololive x Baseball.
This is Usada Pekora, Gawr Gura and Hoshimachi Suisei appearing at a 2024 Los Angeles Dodgers game. In 2025 the Dodgers hosted Koseki Bijou, Ninomae Ina'nis and IRyS. And in 2026 the Wei Chuan Dragons, from Taipei in the Chinese Professional Baseball League, will host Fuwawa Abyssgard, Mococo Abyssgard, Gigi Murin and Raora Panthera. Plus, somewhat unsurprisingly, there is an ongoing collaboration with the Tokyo Giants that's featured more members than i'd care to list right now.
Why? Well, Baseball is Japans biggest sport. And it's not particularly close, nearly half of Japanese people rank Baseball as their favourite sport, doubling the podium places of Soccer and Sumo. So to tie in makes as much sense as Bad Bunny or The Weekend working with the NFL. Plus, Baseball loves to throw a themed or event night to help sell tickets.
The 2024 Hololive x Dodgers has become a historic event. From the event night the Dodgers saw an uptick in performance that carried them all the way to the World Series title, which they repeated in 2025, becoming the first team to win back-to-back since the famous late 90's Yankees. This has become known as the "Hololive Buff", and is in no small part why we wanted them onboard as sponsors - so no pressure then.
Sadly I have not managed to go to a Hololive baseball game. But I have been to a NPB (Japans baseball league) game for the vastly superior Tokyo Yakult Swallows (yes, that Yakult!). It was awesome! Their Meiji Jingu Stadium is iconic, built in 1926 and barely changed since, it's more historic than basically every MLB stadium. The food as you'd expect in Japan is awesome and affordable. And the Japanese just know how to put on entertainment. There are very few better ways to spend a summer evening than enjoying an NPB game. [I've got the jersey, it's so cool!]
While I still don't really understand the Hololive thing (old man etc) and I have no idea what "that Yakult" is, there is one much more important thing here, can we see that jersey?
I have actually been to a baseball game, in LA. Go Angels! (We couldn't afford Basketball, so we ended up going to baseball)
Thats a huge cut you made there but it seems everything that was important could be kept. Well done I guess but this means it's gotta be a busy transfer season for you!
And on the more important subject... Nice to see the Meiji Jingu Stadium again. On my last trip to Japan earlier this year I was also there attended a Pre Season game. IN addition to this I also went to Yokohama Stadium and watched the BayStars (DeNA Baystars, so maybe its easy to figure out how my team got its current identity ) and I went to the Tokyo Dome too and watched a Giants game. Awesome experiences and like you said it's super affordable there and a great experience! Enjoy your time!
My daughter was at a Yakult Swallows game last week, she sent us video of the umbrellla celebration after a home run - as you say the Japanese know entertainment.
Was sort of hoping you would decide to move on from Lagane, I do love a sprinty puncheur. Oh well, a few cool north americans on the market for me and a huge amount of walking-around money for you.
@Heine - Yakult, the worlds biggest probiotic drink. I considered the surprise face reveal with jersey, but not yet.
@Eze - It's gonna be a very busy transfers indeed. I can't go watch the Giants on rivalry principles (despite the obvious sponsor link). Baystars would be fun, hopefully on a future trip I can get to another game.
@wj - Yeah, it's all support so far. But we'll have cash and cap to get some leaders!
@UU - I've got an umbrella, a very unique tradition. I'm not actively selling but offers can be heard for anyone (except Forbes). Downside to walking around money is that someone will probably rob me of it.
) and I went to the Tokyo Dome too and watched a Giants game. Awesome experiences and like you said it's super affordable there and a great experience! Enjoy your time!
