Soccer Fever Gains Momentum | Sports | Trends in Japan

	Japan striker "Gon" Nakayama (left) in action against France in the Confederations Cup final. (Jiji)

SOCCER FEVER GAINS MOMENTUM:
World Cup "Rehearsal" Cements Sport's Popularity
July 24, 2001

One year before the 2002 FIFA World Cup, which will be held jointly in Japan and South Korea, the popularity of soccer in Japan is on the up. The TV ratings for the Japanese national team's matches are higher than for pro-baseball games featuring the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants team, which since the war have been the standard by which sports TV ratings are measured. Soccer is currently the hottest property for domestic TV stations. J. League pro soccer, which had been experiencing a downturn, has also seen spectator numbers rise. It is still unclear whether soccer's popularity will last, but what is certain is that Japan has entered a period in which the public's interest in sport is not limited to baseball.

Confederations Cup Thrills Viewers
The FIFA Confederations Cup was held jointly by Japan and South Korea from May 30 to June 10, 2001, as a rehearsal for next year's big event. Japan finished runner-up in the tournament, which featured a number of world-class teams. The nation went soccer crazy as the national team's heroics unfolded. Live coverage of the final, Japan versus France, achieved the highest viewing figures this year for a sports broadcast, 37.9%. This is the seventh highest figure ever for live soccer and beat by far the 10.8% share for the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants-Hanshin Tigers baseball game held on the same night--one of the country's oldest and most hotly contested baseball match ups--illustrating where the public's interest lies. Japan's other four games in the Confederations Cup also recorded ratings over 20%, contrasting favorably with the ratings for Giants games, which have dropped into the 10%-20% range.

Japan continued its winning ways in the Kirin Cup, beating Paraguay and Yugoslavia to claim the trophy. With ability to match their popularity, the fever surrounding Japan's national team looks set to continue until the World Cup.

J. League Rooted in Local Communities
Although soccer's popularity is undoubtedly due to the exploits of the national team, the J. League is also showing signs of recovery. This year's spectator numbers are already considerably above those recorded at the same time last year. With the opening of a series of 40,000-capacity stadiums for use in the World Cup and the promotion of popular provincial clubs like Urawa Reds and Consadole Sapporo to J. League Division One, even stands that were once deserted are now crowded with supporters.

TV ratings for soccer in general are not yet at the level of those for pro baseball, and a manager at one TV station insists: "It is not soccer itself that is popular. The J. League is not buzzing with excitement. Viewers just feel sympathy for the national team battling with other countries." Yet the J. League has always aimed to nurture clubs with deep roots in their local communities rather than focusing on teams' nationwide popularity.

Soccer Lottery Takes Root

Your Name

What did you think of this article?

It was interesting.
It was boring.

Send this article to a friend

Another factor in the success of soccer in recent months has been the soccer lottery, toto, which began in March 2001. Sales of tickets for toto--in which people predict whether J. League games will be won by the home or away team or drawn--were below expectations at first, but picked up and have now settled at a solid level. The first round saw sales miss the target of 2.7 billion yen (21.6 million U.S. dollars at 125 dollars to the yen), reaching less than 900 million yen (7.2 million dollars), but as awareness of the lottery spread, by the eighth round of matches sales had broken 3 billion yen (24 million dollars), and the twelfth round--sold from May 12 to May 18--saw sales reach a record 3.8 billion yen (30.4 million dollars). Tickets can be bought for 100 yen (80 cents) each, and one of the attractions is a first prize that can reach up to 100 million yen (800,000 dollars). Recently toto sales points have been attracting not only J. League supporters but homemakers with children in tow, middle-aged men and women, and others who are not usually thought to have an interest in soccer.

Unlike a standard lottery, in toto players think for themselves and make predictions. The soccer world has welcomed toto's popularity and the way that it has naturally brought more people into the soccer fold; soccer and toto have benefitted from each other's success. Apart from the Olympics, baseball and sumo have long been Japan's principal spectator sports, but now soccer seems to have joined them in the public's affections.

Copyright (c) 2001 Japan Information Network. Edited by Japan Echo Inc. based on domestic Japanese news sources. Articles presented here are offered for reference purposes and do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the Japanese Government.