2023 J.LEAGUE
Attendance for the 2023 season
2023.12.25
For about three months from the season’s opening in February till May 8 after the Golden Week holidays when COVID-19 was reclassified as a Class 5 infectious disease, the impact of COVID-19 continued to cast a shadow over the 2023 season. However, thanks in part to the effects of large-scale promotional tactics including increased media exposure, TV commercials and digital advertising, and the use of the Japan National Stadium, the total yearly attendance for official J.LEAGUE matches recovered to a level close to that of the 2019 season (99.3% compared to 2019) when attendance hit a record high (ticket revenue for clubs is also expected to recover to pre-COVID levels). For the 2024 season, which will not be impacted by COVID-19, we aim to achieve a new record high in attendance figures, exceeding the record set in the 2019 season.
Total yearly attendance for official J.LEAGUE matches
(MEIJI YASUDA J.LEAGUE, J.LEAGUE YBC Levain CUP, FUJIFILM SUPER CUP, and J1 Promotion Play-Offs)
※Total was 11,173,303 including attendance for matches other than official J.LEAGUE matches (MEIJI YASUDA J.LEAGUE WORLD CHALLENGE, AFC Champions League).
The total yearly attendance for official J.LEAGUE matches increased by about 2.92 million from the 2022 season, reaching 99.3% of the record-high attendance for the 2019 season. Looking at attendance by category, attendance increased by approximately 1.4 million for J1 clubs, approximately 0.87 million for J2 clubs, and approximately 0.3 million for J3 clubs, compared to the previous season.
- Total attendance
Average attendance, number of matches with full attendance
- Average attendance
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Compared to the previous season, average attendance increased by 4,665 (132.6% year-on-year) to 18,993 for J1 clubs, by 1,885 (137.6% year-on-year) to 6,904 for J2 clubs, and by 3,003 (110.3% year-on-year) for J3 clubs. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, attendance continued to grow steadily.
- number of matches with full attendance
With regard to the number of matches with full attendance (matches with attendance at 80% or more of the stadium’s capacity), J1 clubs recorded 36 matches, more than double compared to the previous year despite not reaching the number for the 2019 season, while J2 and J3 clubs recorded numbers exceeding the 2019 season.
Analysis of attendance trends in the 2023 season
- Changes in weekly average attendance for J1, J2, and J3 clubs
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When the trends for weekly attendance were compared with those for the previous year (2022 season) and pre-COVID (2019 season), in the 2019 season when record-high attendance was achieved, the waveform graph shows that attracting attendees in periods such as the season’s opening period, Golden Week, summer holidays/Obon holidays, and the season’s closing period, had significant impact on the overall attendance. While the 2023 season showed a similar waveform trend as the 2019 season, attendance in 2023 was bolstered by large-scale promotional tactics (TV commercials + invitations + digital advertising) over the three periods of the season’s opening period/spring holidays, Golden Week/J.LEAGUE Day (May 15), and summer holidays, as well as the holding of eight League matches (one SUPER CUP match, one League Cup match, and three others) at the Japan National Stadium.
