The NTT Japan Rugby League One 2024-25 season will kick off on December 21, 2024, with three new teams for the 2024-25 season, and a total of 26 teams competing across the three divisions.
The three teams are divided into Division 1 (12 teams), Division 2 (8 teams), Division 3 (6 teams). The Division 1 champions from the previous season are Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo who beat Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights in the final in Tokyo.
Updated August 2024
JRLO Global Coverage
In the past season, matches from the JRLO were able to be watched in Africa on ESPN Africa, in New Zealand via TVNZ, and in some regions on World Rugby’s global rugbypass.com website, while Malaysian TV streaming provider Astro SuperSport channel also made some fixtures available for streaming.
The 2024 JRLO League One Final was streamed for free on World Rugby’s RugbyPass app and webpage for audiences outside of Japan and New Zealand.
From a fan-attendance point of view, the JLRO surpassed one million spectators in a season for the first time prior to the finals being played.
NTT Japan Rugby League One 2024-2025 Key Dates
At the of August 2024, more was announced and the JRLO announced that “NTT League One 2024-25 will kick off in each division on Saturday, December 21st, and will be held in 23 prefectures, including Tochigi, Yamanashi, and Kyoto, which will be the first time League One is held in those prefectures.”
It was also announced that the number of participating teams in the playoff tournament will increase from four to six, with a total of six matches from the quarterfinals onwards, and the playoff tournament final will be held on Sunday, June 1st.
- Season Opener: Saturday, December 21st
- Playoff Tournament: Saturday, May 17th, 2025
- Playoff Tournament Finals: Sunday, June 1, 2025 (Scheduled)
No Cross-Border Competition 2024-2025
There will be no Cross-Border rugby tournament this season, which saw teams from NZ visit Japanese shores last season.
The JRLO announced, “While there were many benefits from matches against world-class club teams last season, there were issues such as holding the event during the League One season, so after much discussion with the other teams, it was decided that the event would not be held in the 2024-25 season.
The next event has not yet been decided, but we are making preparations for the next event after resolving each issue.”
The schedules can be seen here (in Japanese though).
NTT JRLO 2024-25 – Division 1
NTT Japan Rugby League One 2024-25 – Division 2
NTT JRLO 2024-25 – Division 3
The 2024-2025 season will see more teams enter the JLRO Division 3; 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.
NTT Extends JRLO Title Partnership Rights
Japan Rugby League One General Incorporated Association (Chairman: Genichi Tamatsuka, Minato-ku, Tokyo) announced they had reached a basic agreement with NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, Representative Director: Akira Shimada, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo) to renew the contract as for them to be the title partner for Japan Rugby League One through the 2024-25 season and the contract will last for three seasons.
Details on the JRLO 2024-2025 tournament format and match schedule will be announced at a later date.
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