How J League's grassroots strategy offers a blueprint for Major League Soccer's growth
Japan's J League (via Getty Images)
As
Major League Soccer
marks its 30th year, the league continues to experience growing pains—most notably in media visibility, grassroots development, and fan trust. In the Pacific, Japan's
J League
provides an interesting template, having weathered similar challenges in a nation formerly apathetic towards soccer.
From the development of players to open governance, the transformation of the J League provides lessons for MLS's future.
J League's long-term plan provides timely lessons for Major League Soccer
The J League, established over three decades ago, has proven to be a model for consistent, community-based expansion in Asia. Established in 1992 as a way of increasing the likelihood of Japan qualifying for the FIFA World Cup—a dream achieved in 1998—the J League has grown from a 10-club league to 60 clubs over three divisions.
It has managed to do so in a market where baseball and sumo previously dominated the sport altogether.
The J League opted for an approach rooted in community engagement. The original clubs were mostly corporate teams that rebranded to become hometown symbols. According to J League chairman Yoshikazu Nonomura, this identity shift was crucial to building a foundation of youth development and loyalty: 'We've focused on getting kids involved and creating a pathway to professionalism.'
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The comparison with MLS is stark. American soccer is thriving commercially—due to massive sponsorship agreements and a record $2.5 billion media rights contract with Apple—but still drawing ire for youth accessibility and exposure in the media. Most notably, the closed-partnership character of Apple's streaming contract has been criticized for waning visibility.
At the same time, Japan's J League gained broad visibility through negotiations with Dazn to increase coverage within digital and local TV.
Even rural second-division clubs now receive regional ratings of 5-10%, making them necessary media content.
As MLS considers adopting a fall-spring calendar, the J League experience provides both warning and encouragement. After years of opposition, Japanese authorities decided to switch starting next season. But they did it through an open one-year consultation with clubs, supporters, and the media. And the outcome? Every team but one voted in support.
Nonomura underlined the need for fans to be engaged in transformational choices. "If fans are stakeholders, they should be informed of what is being discussed," he stated, referencing his experience as managing director of Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo as an example of creating alignment between clubs and society.
Also read:
Who is Shohei Ohtani's Girlfriend? Exploring the personal life of the New York Mets' Superstar
As Major League Soccer enjoys financial strength and rising stature, it trails in realms where Japan's J League has made subtle, steady gains—developing young players, engendering public confidence, and diverse policymaking. The two leagues followed different trajectories from modest origins. But if MLS hopes to fully become a member of the global elite, it might find its strongest move is to watch and learn from Japan's patient game.
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31 minutes ago
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Nintendo Can't Afford a Slip Up With Switch 2
(Bloomberg) -- Never miss an episode. Follow The Big Take daily podcast today. The Nintendo Switch has generated some $100 billion in sales for the Japanese gaming giant since its launch in 2017, propelling the company's shares to record highs. Now the game-maker is under pressure to do even better with the new Switch 2, out this week. On today's Big Take Asia Podcast, Bloomberg Opinion's Gearoid Reidy joins host K. Oanh Ha to talk about why the Switch 2 is so important to Nintendo's business and whether it can live up to the hype. Listen and follow The Big Take on Apple Podcasts , Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Terminal clients: click here to subscribe. Here is a lightly edited transcript of the conversation: K. Oanh Ha: Gamers, start your engines. Mario: Let's-a-go! Yahoo! Ha: If that sound brings back memories, you're likely one of the hundreds of millions of people who's owned or currently owns a Nintendo gaming device. 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Ltd, and its Sebi-registered research analyst registration number is INH000015729. Investments in securities are subject to market risks. Read all the related documents carefully before investing. Registration granted by Sebi and certification from NISM in no way guarantee performance of the intermediary or provide any assurance of returns to investors. Disclaimer: The views and recommendations given in this article are those of individual analysts. These do not represent the views of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.
India Gazette
an hour ago
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Speaking to ANI before departing for Washington, DC, he said that the US media is a difficult space, but those who are against terrorism and deeply care about South East Asia and are against terrorism will listen to India. 'In Washington, we'll have the interesting phenomenon of the Pakistani delegation in America, and almost exactly the same days... Tomorrow almost they will be in Washington, while we are in Washington on the same date. So there's going to be perhaps an increase in interest because there are two duelling delegations in the same city,' Tharoor told ANI, as the delegation he is leading will be in the US for its last leg of the visit. Tharoor said that though India's case might not be at the top of the agenda for the US media, India can get its message across easily. 'It's a challenging environment. America is a very crowded media space, the world's news generator. Therefore, our story may not be at the top of their minds. But if we can get the attention of those who care about South Asia, those who care about India, those who care about terrorism, we can get our message across very, very easily,' he said. Tharoor said that the delegation has meetings set up with influential government officials and committees which formulate public opinion. He said, 'In Washington we have meetings set up with the entire range of public opinion in Washington, government officials, legislators, there are senators and congressmen, various committees in the House and the Senate, think tanks who are very influential in Washington, particularly those focusing on foreign policy, media and some public addresses, like, for example, the National Press Club... I've been asked to give six or seven interviews, seven or eight interviews to individual American channels and broadcasters, podcasters, and so on,' he said. Tharoor said that the US is important to India in terms of defence, intelligence sharing, QUAD, etc. 'The US is important to us at all levels because frankly the Security Council in a sense is a small part of our relationship with the US which is huge, whether it comes to trade, whether it comes to defence, whether it comes intelligence sharing, whether it comes to our participation in the QUAD in the G-20, there are just so many avenues in which we cooperate with the US,' he said. Tharoor added that it's no coincidence that Pakistan sent its own delegation, but they are not covering as many countries as India is. He said the Pakistani delegation is covering countries that they deem important. 'It's no accident that the Pakistanis have also sent a delegation abroad, but they're not going to as many countries as the Indian delegations are. They're focusing on what they consider a few key capitals, namely, Washington, Brussels. London. That seems to be the thrust of the Pakistani effort. We have gone to all those capitals and more,' he said. Tharoor said that he has enormous respect for the US, but denied claims that the US had mediated in reaching the cessation of hostilities. He added that India never wanted war. 'We have enormous respect for the American presidency, and we will speak with that respect in mind. But broadly speaking, our understanding is a bit different... No one needed to persuade us to stop. We had already said to stop. If there was any persuasion by the American president or his senior officials, it would have been persuasion of the Pakistanis. They would have had to be persuaded. We don't need to be persuaded because we don't want war. We want to focus on development. That's the basic message,' he said. 'We had consistently said from the very beginning on May 7th that we are not interested in prolonging the conflict. This is not the opening salvo in some sort of war. All it is is retribution against the terrorists, period. If Pakistan had not reacted, we would not have reacted,' he added. Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on May 17 stated that Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had tasked him to lead a delegation to present Pakistan's case on the recent escalations of tensions between the two nations. India's all-party delegation's visit to the US is part of India's larger global outreach following the Pahalgam terror attack, aimed at conveying India's zero-tolerance policy on terrorism. The delegation had earlier visited Brazil, Panama, Guyana, and Colombia and will now travel to the United States to continue their diplomatic outreach. (ANI)
