Rugby and Olympic Judo Attract Peak Working Age Fans as Sports World Tournament Engagement Rankings by Generation Revealed
Part 2
MF2 tier is glued to the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
The viewing data analysis company “REVISIO” (hereafter, R Company) conducted an independent survey of which matches captured viewers’ attention across sports world tournaments such as the Olympics and the WBC held from January 2023 to the end of February this year, based on terrestrial TV programs.
For three generations—MF1 (ages 20–34), MF2 (ages 35–49), and MF3 (ages 50 and above)—the top 15 and top 30 rankings were compiled (see methodology for details. The relatively small number of soccer-related entries may be due to the fact that no World Cup was held during the survey period). Let’s look at the results by generation.
For MF2 (ages 35–49), the top-ranked event was the Paris Olympics judo mixed team final.
“People in their prime working years, who are busy with both work and childcare, tend to watch the Olympics broadly while paying attention to Japan’s national team performances. Judo ranking first is likely because it was held early in the tournament and Japan had a strong chance of winning gold, so people were watching with high expectations. (Japan ultimately won silver after losing to France.) The unpredictable nature of the mixed team format, with three men and three women competing in different weight classes, also contributed to its high engagement level,” said Saori Yasutake of R Company’s PR/Marketing division.
Also notable in MF2 is rugby’s strong presence, with 2023 Rugby World Cup matches such as “Japan vs Samoa” ranking 2nd and “Japan vs Argentina” ranking 7th.
“Many in this generation first became fascinated by rugby during Japan’s famous victory over South Africa in the 2015 World Cup and the 2019 tournament hosted in Japan. That strong interest has likely continued,” Yasutake added.
Next is MF3 (ages 50 and above).
“As with other generations, interest in the Olympics and basketball is high. The 2nd-ranked match, the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup ‘Japan vs Cape Verde,’ was a classification match for 17th–32nd place, but it was crucial because a win would secure Japan’s Olympic qualification as the top Asian team (Japan won 80–71 and secured Olympic qualification). The 3rd-ranked ‘Japan vs Germany’ was the opening game of the Paris Olympics basketball tournament. Japan lost 77–97, but they out-rebounded Germany 39 to 36, showing strong performance beyond the scoreline.
Volleyball is also highly popular among people in their 70s and older, with matches like Olympic women’s volleyball ‘Japan vs Kenya’ and ‘Japan vs Poland’ ranking 4th and 5th. This is likely influenced by the 1964 Tokyo Olympics gold medal team known as the ‘Oriental Witches’ and the anime ‘Attack No. 1,’” said Yasutake.
Journalist Tomoka Sakaguchi, who specializes in television programming, commented:
“In all generations, the top-ranked matches are close games or dramatic wins for Japan. International tournaments are often broadcast early in the morning or late at night, making them inconvenient viewing times. Despite this, many people become captivated because they want to experience, in real time, a narrative in which Japan is the protagonist—even if it means disrupting their daily routine.”
What people ultimately seek when watching Japan compete against global powerhouses is, it seems, emotion or drama.
Judo at the Paris Olympics is popular due to gold medal expectations
Volleyball attracts attention from MF1 and MF3
【How “Engagement Level” for global sports tournaments is measured by generation】
The engagement level is a metric independently surveyed by R Company that measures how much people sitting in front of the TV are actually looking at the screen. It is calculated based on the number of seconds viewers are watching the television screen.
“Second-screen” viewing, such as doing tasks like cooking while watching TV, often results in the screen not being actively watched, so the engagement level does not increase in those cases.
The survey was conducted with the cooperation of approximately 2,000 households (about 4,800 people) in the Kanto region and 600 households (about 1,500 people) in the Kansai region, to independently analyze which global sports tournaments viewers in each generation were most “captivated” by.
While the engagement level of typical prime-time TV programs is often in the 50% range, popular sports tournaments exceed 70%, indicating a significantly higher level of attention.
The survey covers the period from January 2023 to the end of February this year. It targets sports tournaments broadcast on terrestrial television with a household TV on-rate (viewing rate) of 5% or higher and a total broadcast time of at least 100 minutes.
From the April 10, 2026 issue of “FRIDAY”
PHOTO： Aflo %e3%83%90%e3%83%90%e3%83%90