The J.League announced on Wednesday a 10-year, 210B yen ($2B) broadcasting deal with the British-based Perform Group, according to KYODO. It is "the largest broadcasting deal in Japanese sports history and is a massive increase on its current contract" with Sky Perfect JSAT Corp. worth 5B yen ($46M) annually. The new deal kicks in next year and runs to '26, "but does not cover" terrestrial or satellite TV. It is also "the first sizeable overseas investment in Japanese sports." J.League Chair Mitsuru Murai said, "We think this underlines our belief that the Japanese sporting industry is a viable content attractive to foreign investment." The J.League plans to use "the newfound money" in improving its marketing, the building of football-only stadiums and increasing its presence throughout Asia. By comparison, Nippon Professional Baseball "has no platform in which the games of all 12 teams in both leagues are available" (KYODO, 7/20). JIJI PRESS reported with the contract, J.League will "shift its focus of broadcast media" to the Internet to allow viewers to watch matches of J.League clubs on smartphones or other mobile devices at any location, "aiming to increase the number of fans." Under the deal, all matches of the J1 top division, J2 second division and J3 third division will be broadcast live. Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. will support the J.League-Perform Group partnership by "providing necessary broadcast technologies and infrastructure" (JIJI PRESS, 7/20).
