High annual salaries and losses of owner companies… “Deep Reason” Why Vissel Kobe’s Long-Desired J1 Championship is in Danger of Coming Golden Age

On December 3, the entire J1 season came to an end. Vissel Kobe” won the league championship for the first time in its 29th year of existence.

Vissel Kobe was founded in 1995. In 2004, when the club fell into financial crisis, Hiroshi Mikitani, 58, the leader of the Rakuten Group, took over the management of the club and, after running his own asset management company, brought it under the Rakuten umbrella in 2003. Backed by Rakuten’s vast financial resources, the team strengthened itself by acquiring former Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta, and won the Emperor’s Cup on New Year’s Day in 2008. This year, the team finally won its first league championship.

With this, the golden era has finally arrived! The salary of the core players is far above the average in the J-League.

The contracts of FW Yuya Osako (33), who played a key role in the victory, and defender Takanori Sakai (32), who played a key role in the defense, will expire at the end of this season, and their salaries are 400 million yen and 180 million yen, respectively.

Kobe’s front office wants to renew the contracts of both players, but they will have to offer even higher salaries in view of their contribution to the team. Mikitani commented at the post-win press conference, ‘We will continue to work with the (Rakuten) Group and Vissel Kobe as a whole so that this will not be a one-time thing,’ but it is doubtful how long they can maintain their strength.

In the six years since acquiring Spain’s Iniesta in 2006, Rakuten has spent a total of more than 30 billion yen to strengthen Vissel Kobe. Looking at such data, many would think that an increase in spending of a few hundred million yen now would not be a problem. However, there is a dark cloud hanging over Rakuten Group’s business situation.

The deteriorating management of Rakuten is likely to affect the club as well.

Owner Rakuten announced a final loss of 139.9 billion yen in settlement for the first half of this year. This marks the fourth consecutive year of losses. Management is in a critical situation, reportedly due to losses in the mobile business. Rakuten Group is the owner of baseball, soccer, and basketball teams, which are said to be worth a total of 20 billion yen. If the current financial difficulties continue, there is a real possibility of a full-scale sale of the company. The team’s market value is at its highest now that it has won the J1 championship.

However, Mr. Mikitani is known to be quite a sports fan, and there is a possibility that he will not give up the club, no matter how much deficit it incurs, even if he has to pay out of his own pocket (laugh). I am worried about how long that will last. ……” (J-League official)

It goes without saying that one of the factors underpinning Vissel Kobe’s strength has been the huge reinforcement fund from Rakuten. A change in that owner would cast a dark shadow over everything from the team’s budgeting.

Still, the impact of this championship experience on the team is immeasurable. Will Vissel Kobe be able to overcome the many uncertainties and begin its golden era?