Yuki Ishikawa and Ran Takahashi’s Rising Popularity Highlight Financial Issues for Japan Volleyball Association

Although the Japanese men’s volleyball team did not win a medal at the Paris Olympics, they were by far the most popular team during the Games. Tickets for the men’s volleyball preliminary round were sold out before the opening of the games. Despite the fact that the Olympics were held overseas, the entire venue was filled with cheers for Japan during the men’s match against Japan. There was a sense of anticipation for the gold medal, as Japan defeated the powerful Brazilian team for the first time in 30 years in the Nations League (June ’23, France round).

In May, Takahashi joined the Suntory Sunbirds Osaka team in the SV League, which will start in October. In May, Takahashi announced that she would join the Suntory Sunbirds Osaka team, which joined the SV League starting in October. At the press conference, the team’s general manager, Keisuke Kurihara, did not specify the annual salary he would pay Takahashi, but he did say, “You can buy a car and a house. It may be difficult in Tokyo, but it is about two houses. It may be difficult in Tokyo, but I can buy a car and a house. It ‘ s an offer that is second to none in other sports,” he said proudly. Still, the Japanese volleyball world is said to be troubled by a certain “problem. A reporter for an evening newspaper revealed, “It is the Japan Volleyball Association (JVA).

The Japan Volleyball Association (JVA) has no money. The national team players flew business class when they went to the Paris Olympics, but they returned in economy class on their way home. Also, the athletes stayed in the athletes’ village all the time, which was a difficult environment to keep in good condition.”

JVA President Shunichi Kawai, 61, who took office in 2010 and is now in his second term, has embarked on reforms to enhance the brand value of Japan’s national team athletes, such as switching from economy to business class on flights taken by the national team during tours of Europe and South America. However, in April of this year, he made the following statement about the JVA’s financial situation. A reporter for an evening newspaper revealed, “Chairman Kawai said.

Chairman Kawai said, “To put it bluntly, we are in the red. I didn’t think it would cost this much. The JVA’s financial report for FY 2011 shows that ordinary income was about 3.5 billion yen, and ordinary expenses were about 300 million yen higher. So, JVA is currently receiving sponsorship support of about 1.146 billion yen from 27 companies and hopes to increase this to at least 1.5 billion yen from 32 companies over the next four years leading up to the L.A. Olympics. It seems that they were hoping that winning a medal at the Paris Olympics would make it less of a pipe dream.

During the Paris Olympics, the chairman himself actively appeared on TV as part of his “sales activities,” but his pre-Olympics “vision” ended up as a pipe dream when he failed to win medals in both the men’s and women’s competitions.

Is there any way to make money domestically without taking advantage of the special demand for the Olympics? This is a problem peculiar to the volleyball world.

The top domestic league (renamed the SV League in October), which opens in the fall of each year, has a schedule of activities that runs through May of the following year. Even if you wanted to include a Japan national team match during the league, the rule is that players in the domestic league cannot be called up during the league matches. It is extremely difficult to hold a national volleyball tournament in Japan like a national soccer tournament,” said a volleyball reporter.

Let’s compare this with soccer, which competed in the Paris Olympics. When a Japanese national soccer match is held in Japan, the Japan Football Association (JFA) receives at least 300 million yen per match from (1) admission fees and (2) revenues from TV broadcasting and distribution rights alone. In addition, the JFA renews its sponsorship contracts for each of the two World Cup tournaments. The JFA renewed its sponsorship contract for each of the two World Cup tournaments, and the scale of the contract, which was renewed this past March, shows just how small the JVA is.

The JFA is backed by a huge sponsorship totaling 35 billion yen over eight years, and the major advertising agency (Dentsu) that brokered the deal for the JFA receives a 10-15% margin from each sponsor, creating a win-win situation for both parties. In addition, Dentsu pays more than 4 billion yen in sponsorship fees to the JFA every year,” said a reporter for an evening newspaper.

The huge sponsorship fee of 35 billion yen is paid in installments. This is the reason why other sports organizations say, “We envy the JFA because they don’t have to worry about money. A reporter for an evening paper stated, “Chairman Kawai is also a good friend to the soccer world.

Kawai is well aware of the situation in the soccer world and is considering a number of measures, such as asking if the national volleyball team could play a paid match, but so far nothing concrete has been put into practice.

The key to success, then, will be how to boost the domestic league, which will start in October with 10 men’s teams and 14 women’s teams. Masaaki Okawa, 66, who has been involved in the management of the league since 2010 and has served as managing director of the J-League soccer team and chairman of the B-League basketball team, will assume the role of chairman. He was the “right-hand man” of Saburo Kawabuchi (87), who reformed the Japanese soccer and basketball worlds.

The SV League is a mixed amateur-professional league with the aim of becoming fully professional in the future. Each team is required to increase its annual sales to 400 million yen by the ’26 season and to 600 million yen or more after that.

In terms of J1 soccer, the average annual revenue of J1 clubs in 2011 was 5.399 billion yen, and the SV League’s first goal is to reach about the same size as J3 clubs (655 million yen average annual revenue).

Nishida Yuji, 24, a member of the SV League’s Osaka Bruteon (formerly Panasonic Panthers), who was a mainstay at the Paris Olympics and announced on social media, “I’m taking a break from the national team,” spoke of the excitement of the Japanese volleyball world: “When it comes to the domestic league, the attendance is not as high as it used to be.

When it came to the domestic league, the attendance would immediately drop off. It was a repetition of this. （I think the SV League, which opens in October, is our last chance.

In addition to Nishida, Takahashi and Ishikawa …… have also been involved. In addition to Nishida, Takahashi and Ishikawa () are also hoping that the SV League, which opens in October, will be as popular as the J-League, which started in 1993, in order to avoid becoming a “treasure trove” of players that fans want to see.