Continuous Efforts Combined to Deliver Record Attendance

― First, please tell us about your current position and the areas you oversee.

Suzuki：I am a J.LEAGUE Corporate Executive Officer and concurrently serve as Manager of the Business Marketing Division. The Business Marketing Division is in charge of attracting spectators to maximise attendance, securing television and other media exposure, commercialising merchandise and other saleable items, and developing and operating marketing systems and platforms. Previously, these areas operated as separate “dots.” Now, we can design initiatives for attendance, retail, food and beverages, and media exposure as interconnected “lines” and “surfaces.”

― The 2024 season surpassed the 2019 season in total attendance. You mentioned approaching this season as a “year of patience,” yet you still managed to increase attendance to 13.5 million, exceeding 2024’s total. What factors contributed to this growth?

Suzuki：This season, it feels like we deepened the efforts we’ve been building over the past few years, and the individual initiatives we had been implementing separately began to work in concert. Local television exposure and match relay broadcasts increased, programmes on key stations grew, clubs held matches focused on attracting spectators, and new stadia and topical events added momentum. This combination came together beautifully this year.

― Which categories showed the greatest growth this season?

Suzuki：This season, J2 and J3 have been driving the entire league, with growth rates exceeding J1. The enhanced exposure on local programmes that we’ve been pursuing since the latter half of the 2022 season has led to increased viewership and more relay broadcasts, steadily increasing the number of people interested in their local club. Local area exposure has increased by 460% compared with 2022.

The J.LEAGUE defines a stadium capacity of 80% or higher as sold out. Last season, we had 147 sold-out matches; this season, we recorded 229. Sold-out matches were not limited to clubs like Sanfrecce Hiroshima and V-Varen Nagasaki, where a new stadium had an effect; it has become harder to obtain tickets for more and more clubs, such as Kashiwa Reysol, Kawasaki Frontale, Kashima Antlers, and Fagiano Okayama.

― For first-time spectators, experiencing a packed stadium likely increases the likelihood of them returning, doesn’t it?

Suzuki：Exactly. When first-time visitors or those who haven’t been to a stadium in a while experience the excitement of a sold-out venue, that experience itself becomes a strong motivation for their next visit. That’s why we consider increasing not only total attendance but also capacity utilisation as important for repeat visits and retention.

― This season seems to have been more about cumulative results from past initiatives than about new measures. However, there must have been improvements through minor adjustments as well. Could you share a representative example?

Suzuki：We continually fine-tune the content and timing of initiatives we present to the public to maximise their effectiveness. Particularly notable this year was our Children’s Invitation programme. Previously, each club had invited children through school events and partnerships with local government, but this year the league launched a children’s invitation campaign during the Silver Week holiday period in late September.

Children were invited free of charge, while adults received discounted or regular priced tickets. The response exceeded expectations, with an exceptionally high number of applications. Attendance typically drops after the summer holidays, but this season we managed to create a medium-sized peak [in attendance numbers]. While raising the peaks during the Golden Week and summer holidays even higher, we also created a new peak during the Silver Week trough, preventing a decline.

Key Stations Drive X Trending While Local Stations Provide Deep Dives

― When did the enhanced local station exposure that contributed to increased attendance begin in earnest?

Suzuki：It started in the latter half of the 2022 season, so we’re now entering our fourth year. Since then, viewership and relay broadcast numbers have gradually increased, steadily growing the number of people interested in their local club. The Tokyo metropolitan area in particular has an abundance of content, so we’ve been conscious of how to approach people with little interest in football or the J.LEAGUE through terrestrial television, which has the widest reach.

― On key stations, Nippon Television launched Off the Pitch last year, and Fuji Television started "Kerutomeru" this year. What were the objectives for each programme?

Suzuki：Off the Pitch focuses on players’ personalities and continues to perform consistently. "Kerutomeru" is a standalone programme in the Monday 11 PM slot, hosted by Travis Japan. The key point is that the show is fully committed to a football variety format rather than to match results or highlight reels.

Despite talk of young people moving away from television, there’s simultaneous streaming and catch-up viewing on TVer, and the shows frequently trend on X. When something trends on X, even people not watching television in real time see the programme name appear in their timeline, leading many to discover the show and the J.LEAGUE.

― I understand that "Kerutomeru" frequently trended on X this year.

Suzuki：That’s right. It now regularly ranks in the single digits almost every week. There are tens of thousands of posts around broadcast time, with approximately 80% from women. In addition to Travis Japan’s star power, they’ve also been visiting stadia themselves, so we’re seeing results in creating touchpoints between the J.LEAGUE and new female audiences.

I see television as a device for creating moments that also engage digital platforms. Television is the trigger, but today’s television doesn’t end there. Now, there is a cycle of trending on X → becoming a talking point → TVer viewing → word-of-mouth spread. Working on "Kerutomeru" has made me strongly aware of this cyclical structure.

― What about local football programmes?

Suzuki：Now in the fourth year, the content has clearly evolved. What used to be primarily digests of match results has shifted towards more features that delve into club and player backgrounds, with more story-driven programming. Additionally, there are more cases where local stations intensively cover pre-match announcements in coordination with clubs’ matches focused on attracting spectators, and where match-day coverage itself is broadcast as content.

For example, Little Glee Monster, who performed this year’s support song For Decades, visited stadia during each club’s matches focused on attracting spectators and appeared on local programmes. As league and club initiatives and media exposure become more coordinated, I feel we’ve evolved from mere result reporting to content that supports spectator attraction efforts and strategy.

Matches Focused on Attracting Spectators and Sampling at the “KOKURITSU DAY”

― Please tell us about the matches you’ve mentioned several times that are focused on attracting spectators and the subsidy system that supports them.

Suzuki：The matches focused on attracting spectators, and the subsidy system began in earnest last year. It’s a framework that provides conditional support for costs to back one to three targeted matches per club. Think of it as seed funding to scale up the events and campaigns that clubs plan. We review whether initiatives add to existing measures and enhance the appeal of targeted matches.

― What types of subsidy use have you found most effective?

Suzuki：Using subsidies for giveaways (gifts for match spectators) has proven highly effective. This includes distributing items such as baseball shirts, blankets, and ponchos at home openers, final matches, and targeted matches. Combining these giveaways with things like live performances by famous artists or special experiences like fireworks or drone shows helps motivate new and casual fans to attend matches. While matches are of course important to the viewing experience, we believe strengthening entertainment elements beyond the match is equally crucial.

― Alongside targeted matches, the “KOKURITSU DAY” has been running since the 2023 season. There’s been some criticism of invitation tickets, but how does this differ from so-called ticket giveaways?

Suzuki：The key point is that J.LEAGUE ID registration is required when applying for invitations. We promote the invitation campaign through TV commercials and digital advertising, asking people to register their ID at the application entry point. Because we’ve designed it so that applicants register their favourite club, clubs gain customer lists, regardless of whether applicants win or lose the draw.

Traditional giveaways can’t track who received tickets, who came, who didn’t, and whether the giveaways led to repeat visits. In contrast, ID-based invitations are a form of sampling. The roadmap is designed so that recipients eventually purchase tickets, join fan clubs, and buy season tickets. The invitation tickets are intended to lower the barrier to the first match experience.

When we analyse new J.LEAGUE ID registrations and first-time match attendees from invitation initiatives, a clear trend emerges: the proportion of young women is high. While this varies by club and time of year, the average age is about 5 years younger than that of existing fans, and the female ratio is about 10 percentage points higher. We feel we’re reaching younger demographics and women who previously had little connection to stadia.

― I see. What approaches are you using to convert these people into repeat visitors?

Suzuki：First of all, we believe the quality of the first experience is paramount. Rather than using invitation initiatives to fill seats at matches with poor attendance, we ask clubs to schedule them for matches during the summer holidays or Golden Week, when people naturally gather and the atmosphere in stadia is lively.

From there, we view it as a nurturing phase. We send thank-you messages and offers for upcoming matches to those who attended, and if there’s no response, we send different offers. This communication can be largely automated.

Looking Ahead to the Season Transition—a “Second Opening”

― Please tell us about the current figures and background for retail, which is now under your purview.

Suzuki：Based on our most recent figures through the end of August, retail sales are up 18% year over year. Attendance growth over the same period was about 8%, so retail growth is outpacing the increase in match spectators. Behind this are innovations by each club, plus a league subsidy programme for stadium retail reform. Since last year, we’ve offered subsidies for things like store layout changes and the implementation of cashless payment.

We’re actually seeing clubs report that sales doubled simply by changing the layout. In traditional counter-style shops, pressure from queuing customers limited browsing time, making it difficult to increase average customer spend. We now recommend a browsing-style layout, where customers can freely explore the store and select items, with separate checkout queues. This has produced notable improvements in average customer spend and sales.

― The number of international visitors to Japan has also been increasing in recent years. Are you implementing any initiatives targeting inbound foreign visitors?

Suzuki：We’re well aware of inbound international tourists as important customers and have launched several initiatives. Specifically, we introduced an English-language ticket sales site that doesn’t require membership registration, and we’ve made our website and social media multilingual to create pathways to stadium visits.

Beyond our owned media, we’re running digital advertising to promote ticket sales and seek exposure in media targeting international tourists to encourage match attendance directly. We’re also combining digital efforts with “ground-level” tactics such as distributing flyers at popular tourist destinations and hotels in clubs’ hometowns.

― How much have ticket sales to inbound international travellers increased this season as a result of these initiatives?

Suzuki：They’ve increased by more than 1.5 times compared with last year. Through initiatives targeting visitors to Japan, we expect not only increased attendance and ticket revenue, but also secondary revenue from merchandise, food, and beverage sales. Furthermore, we anticipate increased awareness and interest in the J.LEAGUE overseas when visitors return home and share the appeal of the J.LEAGUE in their countries.

― You’ve shared various efforts to increase attendance. Are you also using AI in any areas?

Suzuki：We’ve already incorporated it across several areas. The most visible example is automatic highlight generation. AI reads tag information attached to all play footage and automatically generates highlight videos based on specified conditions. The “favourite player videos” we offer to J.LEAGUE ID holders, which automatically extract, edit, and deliver only plays by a user’s registered players, also use AI for backend processing.

Currently, we’re working on using AI to predict each customer’s probability of attending the next match. First, we calculate attendance probability based on factors such as ticket purchase history, attendance records, and residential area linked to J.LEAGUE IDs. We want to combine these results with the customer database and the shared marketing platform used by all clubs to enhance initiatives and hospitality for fans and supporters.

― That’s quite a forward-looking initiative. Finally, please tell us about next year’s 100 YEAR VISION LEAGUE and the significance of the season transition.

Suzuki：We’re positioning next year’s Hundred Year Vision League as a unique, one-off special tournament. J1 will be divided into East and West, while J2 and J3 will be mixed into four groups, increasing derbies and regionally significant matchups. Including regulations where matches are decided by penalty shootouts, we want to promote the appeal of regional character and decisive outcomes.

The 2026/27 season after that represents a major turning point—what might be called a “second opening” for the J.LEAGUE. With the calendar change, the positioning of our four peaks—opening, Golden Week, summer holidays, and final stretch—will also shift. The positive response we achieved by implementing children’s invitations and collaboration projects during Silver Week this year felt like a rehearsal for that transition.

Above all, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to the fans and supporters who enjoy the J.LEAGUE. As symbolised by the choreography at the J.LEAGUE YBC Levain CUP Final, the passion that clubs and fans and supporters create together is our greatest content and our strongest attendance driver. We would be grateful if you continued visiting stadia and supporting your clubs.

Text/Photography of interview by Tetsuichi UTSUNOMIYA

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Japan Professional Football League (J.LEAGUE)

Corporate Executive Officer (Business Marketing), Manager of Business Marketing Division　Shogo SUZUKI

※The information published is current as of December 22, 2025.