The J. League and Rakuten announced on Monday a 2½-year electronic commerce deal that will see the Japanese Internet giant relaunch the league's online store, with the eventual aim of rivaling Nippon Professional Baseball in merchandise sales.
Financial terms of the deal, which follows in the footsteps of the J. League's record ¥210 billion online broadcasting contract with British-based Perform Group, were not released.
The J. League's online store — modeled after league-run online shops in the United States like Major League Baseball or Major League Soccer — will be rebooted in mid-July, when merchandise for all 54 clubs in the three divisions will begin selling.