Recently, the Japanese sports newspaper has accidentally disclosed that the Japanese J-League officials are going to set up a "change promotion support group" in April, aiming to revolutionize the league. The person in charge of the group, Kimura Masaaki, is actively recruiting industry elites.
The "Change Promotion Support Group" is said to be drafting a new strategy to revolutionize the Japanese professional leagues, which will go beyond the traditional constraints and plan the future of the leagues and clubs in a holistic manner. The core strategy is based on the success of the English Premier League, with plans to create a new super league based on the J1 League.
This "Japanese Super League" is expected to accommodate 10 to 14 teams and lift the restrictions on foreign aid. Currently, the J-League has no restriction on the number of foreign aiders who can register, but only on the number of players who can play, with a maximum of five foreign aiders allowed to play in the J1 League, and four in the J2 and J3 Leagues. It is worth mentioning that players from Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Qatar, which cooperate with the J-League, are not counted.
In addition, the change plan includes a restructuring of the broadcast rights of the J-League in Japan, which will return the right to sell the broadcast rights to the clubs. Currently, the media broadcasting rights for all levels of the Japanese league are controlled by the J-League officials, who sell the overall broadcasting rights and then distribute them to the clubs. Currently, J1 clubs receive 350 million yen per year in broadcasting fees, J2 clubs 150 million yen, and J3 clubs 30 million yen. It is worth noting that sources close to the matter revealed that the change plan also involves discussions on relaxing the eligibility of the J1 league.
