Ahead of its 30th-anniversary season, the J. League announced a number of initiatives, including the re-allocation of annual distribution funds, that it hopes will encourage the creation of European-style "superclubs."
By favoring teams with better results on the pitch as well as larger audiences on broadcasting partner DAZN, league officials hope that good teams will become better as they invest more in both their youth academies and outside signings, potentially leading to Japan’s own version of Real Madrid or Bayern Munich.
In recent years, these superclub dreams have only accelerated. J. League clubs have joined the greater Japanese sports world in evolving their sports business operations as a bulwark against unforeseeable circumstances — such as, for example, a global pandemic that keeps fans away from stadiums for several years.