Sponsors Alarmed as Japan’s National Team Loses Its Shine Amid FIFA’s Commercial Push

Half-hearted marketing

Japan’s national team advanced to the knockout stage of the North American World Cup after recording one win and two draws in the group stage. The June 21 match against Tunisia, broadcast on Nippon TV’s network, achieved an astonishing peak television rating of 37 percent.

While the country has been swept up in World Cup fever, media outlets specializing in soccer have also been troubled by signs of declining interest in the national team. An editor at a soccer magazine explained:

“As the strongest team in history label suggests, many members of the current squad play in Europe’s top leagues. That’s precisely why advancing from the group stage is no longer considered a surprise. Ever since the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, led by players such as Keisuke Honda (40) and Shinji Kagawa (37), the popularity of the national team has been gradually declining. The reasons are the absence of a national superstar and the younger generation’s growing distance from the sport. Another major factor is that the World Cup qualifiers were primarily broadcast by DAZN. Whatever people may say, terrestrial television remains highly effective at attracting casual viewers.”

Interest in World Cup-related articles has also declined. A reporter from a sports newspaper said:

“The figures have been considerably lower than expected. Articles based on on-site coverage haven’t generated as much traffic as we had hoped. The most consistently popular pieces have been those related to Honda’s commentary. That’s when you really notice the difference between this tournament and the World Baseball Classic, which has Shohei Ohtani (31) as its superstar. Hopefully, readership will increase once the knockout stage begins.”

The decline in soccer’s popularity has also affected sponsors and companies involved in advertising and promotion. An employee at a major advertising agency explained:

“The average age of soccer viewers has risen compared with the past. Men in their thirties, forties, and fifties now make up the core audience. Younger people, who are accustomed to YouTube Shorts and TikTok, find it difficult to sit through a full 90-minute match. It also seems that World Cup sponsors are no longer actively targeting younger viewers from the outset. Some campaigns have featured members of idol groups popular among young people, but I don’t think those efforts have produced meaningful results.

You can see the same tendency in DAZN’s programming. The commentary teams are a good example. The network has assembled former J.League players and Japan Football Association-certified coaches, clearly catering to dedicated soccer fans. At the same time, its highlight programs feature comedians and members of idol groups. As a result, the overall marketing strategy feels unfocused and caught somewhere in the middle.”

FIFA’s Profit-First Mentality

Broadcasting rights for major international football tournaments such as the World Cup and the UEFA Champions League have become increasingly expensive with each passing year. For the previous tournament in Qatar, FIFA reportedly demanded a little over ¥20 billion (about $135 million), while this time the figure is said to be between ¥30 billion and ¥35 billion ($200 million to $235 million). Those costs have been divided among broadcasters such as NHK, Fuji TV, Nippon TV, and DAZN.

It is also noteworthy that TV Asahi, which has long invested heavily in football coverage, has stepped away from the competition. An employee at the network explained:

“It is impossible to turn a profit from broadcasting the matches alone, so the company probably decided that the numbers simply didn’t add up. During the last World Cup, ABEMA streamed every match free of charge. As a result, weekly viewership exceeded 30 million, subscriber numbers grew substantially, and the service recorded its first profitable year. From an investment standpoint, I think it was the right decision, but television networks today are no longer willing to take that kind of risk. This time, DAZN has secured the rights to stream every match, and the key issue will be how successfully it can retain its existing paying subscribers.”

With 48 participating nations, this tournament features more teams than ever before. The number of matches has also increased, with 32 teams advancing to the knockout stage and the competition lasting approximately six weeks.

Even before the tournament began, overseas media outlets, particularly in Europe and North America, were publishing articles criticizing FIFA’s emphasis on profit, its close relationship with the Trump administration, and concerns that expanding the field of participants would lower the overall quality of play.

The soccer magazine editor quoted earlier lamented:

“The number of matches has increased so dramatically that people jokingly refer to the phenomenon as the ‘FIFA virus.’ At the same time, soaring broadcasting rights fees and ticket prices have made the sport’s profit-driven nature more obvious than ever. Yet in Japan, you rarely see articles criticizing this structure. Watching this World Cup has reminded me of the gap that still exists between Japan and the world’s leading football nations.”

The global spectacle that takes place once every four years may gradually be losing the very qualities that made it so captivating in the first place.