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The story
The Sankei Shimbun reports that ticket sales for the Asian Games currently underway in Aichi and Nagoya have been sluggish, with empty seats a common sight, and Governor Hideaki Omura has admitted the event is “struggling.” On a thread on 5ch’s Nandemo Jikkyo G board (a general live-chat board), posters voiced surprise that even Japan’s national soccer team matches aren’t drawing strong crowds, while others reported that less mainstream sports like kabaddi and sepak takraw are apparently holding their own in ticket sales. Some suggested that Japan’s soccer squad, built mainly around U-21 players, may be hurting attendance, while others questioned why the mascot’s design was changed after it had already been chosen through a public competition. Various theories were floated over what’s behind the muted excitement.
Asian Games ticket sales sluggish, empty seats stand out — Governor Omura: “We’re struggling” — push for in-person sales to turn things around
Source: sankei.com / Original article here
What people said
Huh? There's zero buzz about it, it's crickets out here
For real? Where's this festival happening?
Wait, is that even the full national team playing?
Kabaddi > sepak takraw > soccer, baseball, rugby
Seriously?
Is soccer's era over?
Better to go watch sports you don't normally get to see
You can catch baseball and soccer any old time
Why's baseball being held in Okazaki?
It's up a mountain, access is terrible
Baseball is the amateur corporate-league (shakaijin) national team.
Only Korea's playing for real, since military exemption is on the line — their soccer squad is U-23 plus overage slots, and their baseball roster is stacked with KBO title-caliber players
Then they win it, get a big head about it, pat themselves on the back, and end up weaker for it — classic Korean playbook
Same turnout as a J2 match…
Even with 4 overseas-based players on the age-group squad, it seems like nothing short of the full A team can draw a crowd anymore
That's what a mature soccer nation looks like
People used to get excited for age-group teams too, but not anymore
People used to make noise over age-group teams too, though
Lately it's nothing but the World Cup
Re: #51
It's being hosted in Japan though…
The original design looked cool, like it could've been an enemy character from Mega Man
In the final version the pupils got bigger, the shading around the eyes got smaller, the fingers and feet and everything got rounder, and they added a smiling mouth
And as a costumed mascot it's basically a different creature altogether
The original cool design was better, why'd they change it?
That's just the thing that drops on you in the Fire Man stage (Mega Man reference)
This is gonna go viral like Myaku-Myaku, just watch (Myaku-Myaku = the Osaka Expo's mascot, famous for going viral)
So who's actually playing?
4 overseas-based players
Young players from J1/J2/J3
College students
Probably U-21 bench players from domestic clubs
The domestic clubs are mid-season too and don't want to let players go
What do we do about this one
Both deserve criticism, honestly
Only move left is a come-from-behind grand slam
The Expo was underwhelming for its first week too, remember
Just means Asian Games soccer has no real value
Korea's the only one who's ever serious about it
The Asian Cup is Asia's biggest soccer tournament though
The military-exemption carrot really is powerful stuff
Does the J.League go on break for this?
Nope, it's still running
Basically these are J.League bench players
Makes you wonder if there are any young J.League starters they'd genuinely have wanted to call up
Background and Key Points
The Asian Games are the largest multi-sport event in Asia after the Summer Olympics, and this edition, hosted in Aichi and Nagoya, had already drawn attention beforehand over costs reported to have ballooned past the original budget and over questions about the organizing setup. In the thread, the makeup of the competing squads was a key point of debate: since Japan’s soccer team is built mainly around U-21 reserve players, some argued it’s unfair to compare its attendance to that of full national-team matches, while others voiced disappointment that “even with Japan hosting, there’s just no excitement.” Images purporting to show ticket sales figures were also posted, with claims that lower-profile sports like kabaddi and sepak takraw were outselling soccer and baseball, though no source or official tally could be confirmed within the thread itself, so the accuracy is unclear. Talk about the event’s operating costs and the mascot’s design change also came up, but all of this remains speculation confined to 5ch and should be read as separate from any official announcement.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “[Sad News] Aichi’s Asian Games Getting Zero Buzz…“.
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