Japan Rugby League One 2023-2024 Season Sees Record Breaking Crowd Attendance

As the Japan Rugby League One 2023-2024 season enters the final rounds, the organisers will be hoping for strong crowd attendance to continue, as the JLRO surpassed one million spectators in a season for the first time prior to the finals being played.

The JRLO season has seen an overall combined attendance of more than one million in its first two years, with 42,000 in attendance at the final last season.

With more than three-quarters of a million at matches in JRLO season two, the league has attracted 250,000 more fans this season. The final will be held at the National Stadium in Tokyo which can accommodate 68,000 while the venue for the two semifinals at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium is over 25,000.

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Fan Engagement At Heart Of Record-Breaking Japan Rugby League One 2023-2024 Season

The JRLO said via a press release that many of the fans who have attended matches have been identified as newcomers to the league or sport and it has been the activities of the various clubs in their local communities which have driven participation.

Chief Operating Officer Hajime Shoji said greater levels of fan engagement had been a key aim in reaching the milestone of achieving a million spectators in a single season for the first time.

The semi-finals will be held this weekend at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium in Tokyo and Shoji added, “The four clubs who have qualified for the semi-finals in Division One each have large supporter bases, and we are confident that there will be a big turnout from their fans to support them in this weekend’s games.

Japan Rugby League One chairman Genichi Tamatsuka commented on the semifinals “The four teams that made the semi-finals have proven themselves to be the best, although the competition keeps improving, with more great players coming in from overseas, and the standard of the local Japanese lifting as a result.”

One of the league’s purposes is to increase the number of talented players who are available for the Brave Blossoms, and I think every year that the playing standard and the level of competition between the teams rises, the more we will achieve that as a league.”

JRLO Expands For 2024-2025 Season

The Replacement Battles this weekend will also boost attendance with the eight matches contributing to the season’s final crowd total.

The 2024-2025 season will see more teams enter the JLRO Divisions; with three new clubs, Secom Rugguts (based in Saitama), Yakult Levins (Toda) and LeRIRO Fukuoka (Ukiha city) bringing the total number of participating clubs in the JRLO Divisions to 26.

Division Two will have 8 teams, while Division Three will increase to 6 teams, with the top flight remaining at 12 sides next season.

Shoji said, “Everyone across the league, at the clubs, our league staff, and our very supportive sponsors, have worked hard to make Japan Rugby League One a success. But we all know that there is still plenty to do to further consolidate the league, thereby growing the game’s footprint across the country and the world’s interest in rugby in Japan.”

Officials from JRFU met with the Australian and New Zealand Rugby unions in May 2024 and there have been several cross-border club MoUs to promote and collaborate for men’s, youth, and women’s rugby.

Photo Credit: Saitama Wild Knights

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