FC Tokyo, who finished the 2024 season, faced the reality of not being able to compete for titles, despite achieving numerous record-breaking numbers in terms of average attendance and annual revenue. In an interview with President Shigeya Kawagishi, we look back on the club's current state from both a business and football perspective. In the first part, we asked about his thoughts on the successful business results. Behind those impressive numbers lies the club's efforts towards the future.
Coverage and composition by Kei Sato (freelance writer)
Best Numbers and Efforts for the Future
──How are the business and football aspects of the 2024 season summarized? First, please tell us about the business aspect.
One easy-to-understand indicator is the number of spectators in the league. For FC Tokyo, the 2019 season saw a record high of 31,540 people. And in the 2024 season, we were able to surpass that number. We had an average of over 33,000 people per game, with a total of 630,000 people coming to support us. We are truly grateful for the fact that many fans and supporters came to our home, Ajinomoto Stadium, even though we struggled to win there. We were able to win all four home games held at the National Stadium, but we are extremely disappointed and sorry that we couldn't deliver more victories at Ajinomoto Stadium.
──How do you perceive the factors that contributed to the increase in attendance despite that?
1The 2019 season, where the average attendance exceeded 30,000, was a season where we competed for the championship. We did not think that surpassing that number would be an easy challenge for the club. However, in the 2024 season, we were able to successfully achieve that challenge with a large number of people coming to support us. Of course, unlike the 2019 season where all matches were held at Ajinomoto Stadium, in the 2024 season we held 4 matches at the Japan National Stadium with a total of 210,000 attendees. The total number of attendees also increased by 2 matches for home games in the league, so it is not a simple comparison of numbers, but I believe that surpassing the number that was our big goal is significant.
The benefit of holding matches at the Japan National Stadium, as explained so far, is that it can reach a wide audience who may not be aware of FC Tokyo's existence, in addition to Ajinomoto Stadium. We plan to continue utilizing the National Stadium strategically while focusing on Ajinomoto Stadium, and in the J-League, we are promoting "THE National DAY" to further engage fans and supporters. This is an area where the club and the J-League have aligned interests, and we hope to continue to attract more fans and supporters.
──The sales of goods were also reported to be growing steadily. What are your thoughts on this?
This season has been really successful. There is a possibility that changing the emblem has had a positive effect. Of course, I don't think the new emblem has been accepted by everyone, but looking at the numbers, they have improved compared to last season and I can feel that many people have bought it. Normally, only existing fans and supporters purchase merchandise. Considering that, I think there was a high demand for items with the new emblem. In addition, we made sure to prepare merchandise at affordable prices, such as towels and scarves, for the casual fans. As I mentioned in the previous interview, expanding the store and stocking up on merchandise at the stadium has had a positive effect.
──Looking at the numbers from the past two years, merchandise sales have increased to 400 million yen and 600 million yen. How about merchandise sales for the 2024 season?
This year, we expect to exceed 700 million yen. We believe that our efforts to not be afraid of the risk of inventory, which we talked about in the previous interview, have also led to results. We will continue to build on this and strive for further progress.
──As a new initiative, U-12 tickets were sold. Please tell us again about the purpose and effectiveness of this.
We have set up a ticket called U-12 for some seat types from this season. When analyzing the "customer base" for this seat type, it can be seen that ticket sales targeting adults have also increased. In other words, U-12 tickets have become an opportunity for families to come and visit. Although this is an analysis at the time of summer, when looking at the data in more detail, the average age of visitors has become about 1 year younger. This is thought to be due to the fact that the age of families who come with their elementary school children, in addition to U-12 visitors, is relatively young. As the J-League has been around for 30 years and the average age of spectators has been increasing, the rejuvenation of the fan base has become one of the challenges for both the league and the clubs. From that perspective, I think it was a measure that had a certain effect.
This time, we took a fairly long-term perspective. When thinking about which club children support, the influence of their parents is significant. From that perspective, I think it is important to create experiences such as "I became a fan of FC Tokyo because my parents took me to the stadium." By continuing these efforts, I want to create an environment where FC Tokyo fans and supporters will continue to pass on for 10, 20 years even as generations change. If we only consider immediate profits, the so-called "customer unit price" will differ between increasing one elementary school student and one adult customer, so we would focus on adults. However, a long-term perspective is absolutely necessary, and we want to create a cycle that will be passed down from parents to children, and from children to grandchildren, looking ahead 10, 20, 30 years. In that sense, we will continue to approach families in the future as well.
──As another attempt, there was a partnership with overseas clubs in the 2024 fiscal year. Can you please explain the partnership with Legia Warsaw (Poland) and SL Benfica (Portugal)?
When it comes to partnerships with overseas clubs, it may seem like there is player exchange between clubs, but in reality, the desired player image differs for each league and team, so it is not such a simple matter. Legia Warsaw's main focus is on scouting partnerships, exchanging information with each other's scouts. We ask for evaluations as a second opinion on EU players we are considering acquiring, and in return, we provide information on Japanese players that they are interested in. This partnership was realized through a mutual match of needs.
SLSL Benfica is a partnership related to development. I think the academy is a strength that FC Tokyo possesses, but how to create a solid career path for players is not only a challenge for FC Tokyo, but also for the Japanese soccer world in the age known as "post-youth". Will they go on to university or play in the J-League? Even players who have been promoted to the top team may choose to change categories. It is quite difficult to secure the number of games played by that generation. There are also cases where we create opportunities for players to play on loan to J2 clubs, but that alone is not enough. We wanted to expand various possibilities to increase the value of players. In that process, we came to the idea that being raised overseas is also one option, and our intentions aligned with SL Benfica, one of the world's leading clubs, in terms of maximizing the value of players, and we have decided to form a partnership.
What kind of results do you expect for the sales in the 2024 fiscal year? Please tell us your current outlook before the settlement.
Last year's sales were 5.929 billion yen, but this year's sales are expected to greatly exceed that, thanks to which it seems that it will be the highest number ever for each business segment. Details are not yet finalized, so I hope to be able to report it as a management report after the settlement.
The second part is here
