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The story
On September 25, Nadeshiko Japan (the Japan women’s national team) cruised to a 4-0 win over the Philippines in the quarterfinals of the Asian Games women’s soccer tournament, advancing to the final four. The team went undefeated through the group stage with a perfect 3-0 record, scoring 20 goals and conceding none — but at the match venue, Ecopa Stadium (capacity 50,889), the announced attendance was a mere 1,084, and on 5ch the sparse turnout became the main talking point rather than the win itself. Users compared the draw against the men’s national team’s box-office pull, debated the competitive level of women’s soccer and venue choices, and looked ahead to the semifinal matchup against South Korea.
Next up in the semifinals: South Korea
On September 25, the Japan women’s national team, led by manager Norihisa Kano, faced the Philippines women’s national team at Ecopa Stadium in Shizuoka Prefecture in the Asian Games quarterfinals (the first round of the knockout stage).
Nadeshiko Japan, who went undefeated through the group stage with 20 goals scored and none conceded, opened the scoring just two minutes in. Yuho Shiokoshi’s corner kick was met by Yuki Seno’s header, and Saori Takarada pounced on the rebound to find the back of the net.
Source: soccerdigestweb.com / Original article here
What people said
When the broadcast zoomed in on the big screen showing '1,084' in the stadium, I thought, 'TBS is straight up bullying them at this point.'
Women's team = Boku ga Mitakatta Aozora
That's the kind of popularity gap we're talking about (comparing a top-tier idol group to a much smaller sister group).
The New Year's high school soccer tournament has more energy.
Watching this slow, powerless soccer feels like watching everything at 0.5x speed.
But I doubt this problem is limited to soccer.
Playing on the same size pitch as the men just doesn't work.
A semifinal 'sister derby,' huh… *sniffle* ("pien" is cutesy internet slang for a whiny, teary reaction)
They inflated the number.
you got to watch two matches, which felt like a good deal.
Nishigaoka [a smaller Tokyo stadium] would do just fine.
so there's no time left to go watch the national team.
Ecopa's way too big for an unpopular Nadeshiko team.
If that's what led to the sorry state we're in now,
then in a way it's actually a blessing that the men keep endlessly stumbling over the Round-of-8 wall and the 'first knockout match' wall.
Motivation might be part of it, but honestly, once people actually watched seriously, it became clear the games are just boring — a strictly inferior version of the men's game, so people just end up thinking 'I'll watch the men instead.'
Women's soccer is a different animal now compared to back then, since Europe's top men's-soccer powerhouses have only recently started investing seriously in it.
Still drew more fans than a baseball game, though.
Don't compare it to YouTube's concurrent-viewer count — anyone can watch that for free, whether at home or out and about.
If we're talking free live streams, no YouTuber in Japan tops soccer's peak of 10 million concurrent viewers: https://news.yahoo.co.jp/expert/articles/5604baed1502919d7e39a541023b1ce415f13647
The Asian Games organizers have no reason to fake the attendance for a one-off event with no next edition —
faking it would be all risk, no reward.
Basketball and volleyball both have women's-specific standards.
Half the match length would be plenty.
Right now it's clearly beyond their capacity, and it's just boring.
Even elementary school boys could probably put on a faster-paced game.
Background and Key Points of the Discussion
Ecopa Stadium has a capacity of 50,889 — nearly 50 times the actual attendance of 1,084. The thread split between those who saw the gap as evidence of “women’s soccer’s inherent lack of popularity” and those who argued it was simply “a case of the venue being far too large for the occasion.” The comparison some raised — the roughly 20,000 fans who turn out for the men’s U-21 team — may not be a fair one, since the tournaments differ in positioning and conditions. Nadeshiko Japan did see a temporary spike in attention after winning the 2011 World Cup, but attendance at national team matches tends to fluctuate depending on the opponent and how the tournament is positioned. It would be premature to judge the popularity of women’s soccer as a whole from this single figure of 1,084; the turnout and conditions across the tournament as a whole need to be considered too.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Entertainment/Sports News+) thread “[Soccer] Nadeshiko Japan cruises into the final four en route to a three-peat! Group stage: 20 goals scored, 0 conceded → beats Philippines 4-0! Crowd: 1,084.”
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