Number of teams in the J. League 1993/1994-2023/2024

In the 2023/2024 season, Japan's professional soccer circuit, the J. League, had 60 teams competing in three divisions, the J1, J2, and J3. In less than 30 years since its inaugural year in 1993, when the circuit had no more than 10 teams competing in one division, the J. League has grown considerably, gaining ground in various aspects, from market size to the number of attendances at stadiums.

Differences between divisions

The growth of the J. League naturally led to the creation of divisions, reaching its current three-tier system in 2014 with the creation of J3. As was to be expected, the higher a division, the more money is involved. Cumulative revenue generated by J1 teams throughout the season added up to more than double the amount that J2 teams were able to generate, and several times more than cumulative revenue earned by J3 teams. This pattern was also similar in the case of average attendance figures, where (in pre-COVID-19 times) J1 teams were able to attract about double the number of spectators to their matches, compared to J2 teams.

Exposure to international audiences

In the attempt to commercialize Japanese soccer and to secure additional income, the governing body of Japan’s professional soccer circuit began to look into possibilities to sell Japanese soccer abroad. To further this endeavor, a 10-year broadcasting rights deal was signed with DAZN in 2017 (and was extended in the shape of a revised incentive-based deal for another two years). Meanwhile, J. League management is expanding its social media presence looking to create more exposure of J. League content abroad, moving past Facebook to other mainstream platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, WeChat, and Weibo. The last two social media platforms mentioned here specifically target content distribution in the Chinese language sphere, dramatically expanding the hypothetical reach of J. League content.