Prior to the 2002 season, the idea of moving the Fighters to Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaidō and Japan's fifth largest city, emerged.
The Seibu Lions also had preliminary plans to move to the northern metropolis.
Tokyo's Fighters fans voiced their opposition to the proposed relocation (though the franchise never drew as many fans as their co-habitual counterparts, the Giants, while playing in the capital), but it was eventually announced that the team would indeed call the Sapporo Dome its new home beginning in 2004.
Aiming to build a grassroots relationship with its future fans, the team decided to change its name to the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.

At first, with the unhappy Seibu Lions suddenly changing their approval vote, Giants owner Tsuneo Watanabe and Seibu owner Yoshiaki Tsutsumi voiced their concerns over the move.
They believed that Nippon Ham's choice to move the team would spur a decentralization in Japanese professional baseball, and they threatened that a decrease in the number of teams in the Kantō and Kansai regions should merit a one-league system instead of two.
As a matter of fact, the question of reorganizing baseball's league structure eventually became a bigger issue than the sale and renaming of the Kintetsu Buffaloes.
The issue eventually settled down, though, and the Fighter's relocation was eventually approved by the league.
The response from the people of Hokkaidō was weak, but NPB fans welcomed the move, noting that the Fighters could now be free from the Tokyo Dome's high rent and perpetual second-billing to the Giants.
Out of respect for the Tokyo-based Fighters fans, the team decided to schedule a few "home" games per season at the Tokyo Dome.

After the move finally was complete in 2004, the Fighters signed former-Tigers superstar Tsuyoshi Shinjo and a revitalized Fernando Seguignol.
American manager Trey Hillman led the team to success in his second year on the job, and at the end of the season, the Fighters were in a fierce race with the Chiba Lotte Marines for the final spot in the new P.L. playoff system.
With a vital win over the Orix BlueWave on September 24, the newly moved Fighters earned a trip to the postseason, advancing to play Seibu in a three-game series.
Though they put up a strong effort against Seibu ace Daisuke Matsuzaka, the Fighters lost the first game of the series 6–5.
They took Game 2 by a score of 5–4.
In the decisive third game, the Fighters fought back in the ninth inning after trailing for the whole game but ultimately fell to a Kazuhiro Wada walk-off home run, losing 6–5.
The Fighters would have to wait for another chance for the P.L. pennant.

During the pennant race, the Fighters began selling tickets for infield reserved seats at a low 1,500 yen price point, in an attempt to draw fans to the park.
At and after 7:30 pm, usually well after the first pitch, the team began selling special child-fare tickets called "730 Tickets" (they started the same promotion at the Tokyo Dome in 2005).
In addition to these, in 2005 they added extra-low priced tickets, discount parking passes and beer coupons to attract more fans.
As a result of these promotions, and partially due to the rising popularity of young pitcher Yu Darvish, drafted the year before, the left field stands became constantly sold out for exhibition games, regular season games and playoff games, filled with loud and raucous Ōendan.
Even the right field stands, usually occupied by the visiting team's fans, began to fill with Fighters supporters.
In 2005, the Fighters drew over 1,000,000 fans for the first time since 1993, ranking second in the P.L. after the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.

Also in 2005, a previously unknown manager, Shigeru Takada, became the club's first general manager.
On April 27, owner Yoshinori Okoso died.
The Fighters retired the number 100 in his honor, a first in club history (also the first retired number for owners in NPB).
Yukio Tanaka reached a career 1,000 RBI total, and Makoto Kaneko joined the 1,000 hit club in the same year.
On September 20 the Lions smashed the Fighters at home, c
Prior to the 2002 season, the idea of moving the Fighters to Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaidō and Japan's fifth largest city, emerged. The Seibu Lions also had preliminary plans to move to the northern metropolis. Tokyo's Fighters fans voiced their opposition to the proposed relocation (though the franchise never drew as many fans as their co-habitual counterparts, the Giants, while playing in the capital), but it was eventually announced that the team would indeed call the Sapporo Dome its new home beginning in 2004. Aiming to build a grassroots relationship with its future fans, the team decided to change its name to the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.
At first, with the unhappy Seibu Lions suddenly changing their approval vote, Giants owner Tsuneo Watanabe and Seibu owner Yoshiaki Tsutsumi voiced their concerns over the move. They believed that Nippon Ham's choice to move the team would spur a decentralization in Japanese professional baseball, and they threatened that a decrease in the number of teams in the Kantō and Kansai regions should merit a one-league system instead of two. As a matter of fact, the question of reorganizing baseball's league structure eventually became a bigger issue than the sale and renaming of the Kintetsu Buffaloes. The issue eventually settled down, though, and the Fighter's relocation was eventually approved by the league. The response from the people of Hokkaidō was weak, but NPB fans welcomed the move, noting that the Fighters could now be free from the Tokyo Dome's high rent and perpetual second-billing to the Giants. Out of respect for the Tokyo-based Fighters fans, the team decided to schedule a few "home" games per season at the Tokyo Dome.
After the move finally was complete in 2004, the Fighters signed former-Tigers superstar Tsuyoshi Shinjo and a revitalized Fernando Seguignol. American manager Trey Hillman led the team to success in his second year on the job, and at the end of the season, the Fighters were in a fierce race with the Chiba Lotte Marines for the final spot in the new P.L. playoff system. With a vital win over the Orix BlueWave on September 24, the newly moved Fighters earned a trip to the postseason, advancing to play Seibu in a three-game series. Though they put up a strong effort against Seibu ace Daisuke Matsuzaka, the Fighters lost the first game of the series 6–5. They took Game 2 by a score of 5–4. In the decisive third game, the Fighters fought back in the ninth inning after trailing for the whole game but ultimately fell to a Kazuhiro Wada walk-off home run, losing 6–5. The Fighters would have to wait for another chance for the P.L. pennant.
During the pennant race, the Fighters began selling tickets for infield reserved seats at a low 1,500 yen price point, in an attempt to draw fans to the park. At and after 7:30 pm, usually well after the first pitch, the team began selling special child-fare tickets called "730 Tickets" (they started the same promotion at the Tokyo Dome in 2005). In addition to these, in 2005 they added extra-low priced tickets, discount parking passes and beer coupons to attract more fans. As a result of these promotions, and partially due to the rising popularity of young pitcher Yu Darvish, drafted the year before, the left field stands became constantly sold out for exhibition games, regular season games and playoff games, filled with loud and raucous Ōendan. Even the right field stands, usually occupied by the visiting team's fans, began to fill with Fighters supporters. In 2005, the Fighters drew over 1,000,000 fans for the first time since 1993, ranking second in the P.L. after the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.
Also in 2005, a previously unknown manager, Shigeru Takada, became the club's first general manager. On April 27, owner Yoshinori Okoso died. The Fighters retired the number 100 in his honor, a first in club history (also the first retired number for owners in NPB). Yukio Tanaka reached a career 1,000 RBI total, and Makoto Kaneko joined the 1,000 hit club in the same year. On September 20 the Lions smashed the Fighters at home, c
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters