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The story
Nadeshiko Japan faced off against Thailand in their opening Group Stage match at the Asian Games, cruising to an 8-0 win with hat tricks from Yoshino Nakajima and Saori Takarada. But only 1,202 spectators showed up at Ecopa Stadium (capacity roughly 50,000), and the fact that there was no terrestrial TV broadcast also became a talking point. On 5ch, reactions poured in from every angle — questions about why a tournament held in Aichi was using a venue in Shizuoka, debate over the drawing power of women’s sports in general, and comparisons with other sports like volleyball and basketball.
“I can’t believe there was no broadcast on a terrestrial channel”
The Asian Games, held in Japan for the first time in 32 years, kicked off. On September 14, Nadeshiko Japan faced Thailand’s women’s team in their Group E opener and won big, 8-0. Yoshino Nakajima scored a hat trick in the first half and Saori Takarada added another in the second, with the team notching four goals in each half.
[Video] Stands nearly empty… Ecopa Stadium’s 50,000-seat capacity leaves empty seats everywhere
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Read the original article here
What people said
If it's an Aichi tournament, at least hold it somewhere in Aichi, there's no shortage of stadiums there.
The Tokyo Olympics had matches all over Japan too, you know.
Aichi's stadiums like Toyota Stadium and Mizuho are mainly used for the men's games, while the women get sent to Nagaragawa, Nagai, Ecopa, and the like.
That's because men's volleyball is boring.
I have no idea what you're talking about.
Women's volleyball has a lower net, and women's basketball uses a smaller ball — they're properly customized for the women's game, so it doesn't suffer by comparison to the men's and stays easy to enjoy.
But women's soccer uses the exact same ball, goals, and pitch as the men.
That's why it ends up looking even more underwhelming.
Even with tweaks like that it'd still be way weaker than the men's game — in speed and power both.
They should shrink the pitch and use a smaller ball too.
Use a bouncier ball so it picks up speed when kicked.
Something about the women's game just feels underwhelming.
Basketball's still fun even with women players though.
For reference, the Women's Asian Cup drew 74,397 fans.
I guess women's soccer is popular in Australia? The US too, come to think of it — but it's not really the same story in Asia.
Even soccer's fielding what's basically the fourth string, nothing but players nobody's ever heard of, right?
Women's track and field.
Throwing events excluded, though.
The Asian Games give you a chance to see sports that aren't in the Olympics, like sepak takraw.
That's about it.
Can you really charge money for a match that's basically elementary-school level?
The games run long too.
With short-form video everywhere now, younger people's attention spans keep shrinking — it's an era where people can't even sit through a long movie.
Watching a women's soccer match seems rough unless you're really into it.
I think what they're saying is: other sports adjust for the physical differences between men and women, but soccer uses the same huge field as the men's game, so it ends up looking even more underwhelming by comparison.
There's no such thing as a women's-specific court in volleyball or basketball.
The one that's washed up is baseball, propped up entirely by Shohei Ohtani lol
Ball-kicking sports in general are done.
So soccer's washed up even though a match between two other countries pulled 22% ratings in the middle of the night, but baseball's popular even though its best rating all year was 17% in prime time? lol
The field's just too big relative to how fast they can run.
Their kicks aren't that powerful either, so you get a lot of dead, boring stretches.
But soccer's actually the strongest one — if they win this time it'll be three straight titles.
The ball, the players' movement, the sense of speed — it's like watching adults versus kids.
Boxing, maybe?
The women's version just looks like playing around to me.
Tennis and volleyball end up feeling like you're watching a completely different sport too.
Apparently the men are playing at Toyota Stadium.
The women get Shizuoka lol
Aichi Prefecture just doesn't have many soccer or track stadiums.
They're using not only Ecopa but even Nagai in Osaka as a venue.
Ichiro vs. a women's baseball team: 25,000 fans.
Women's soccer at the Asian Games: 1,202 fans lol
Less than a girls' high school baseball game lol
How long are you gonna keep clinging to Ichiro lol
Women's baseball at the Asian Games: 0 fans
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
This year’s Games mark Japan’s first time hosting in 32 years, with Aichi and Nagoya as the main hub and surrounding prefectures also serving as venues. The reason Nadeshiko Japan’s match was held at Ecopa in Shizuoka comes down to the fact that Aichi Prefecture has few soccer and track-and-field stadiums — the men’s games use Toyota Stadium, while the women’s games have been farmed out to venues outside the prefecture like Nagaragawa, Nagai, and Ecopa. Past editions of the Women’s Asian Cup have drawn crowds of over 70,000, so it’s not accurate to simply conclude that “women’s soccer just doesn’t draw fans.” Commenters in the thread also pointed out that the squad was missing its key players, and that with no TV broadcast, many people may not even have known the match was happening. Opinions were split between those who saw the low attendance as a sign the sport itself has lost appeal, and those who blamed the tournament’s organization and publicity. While the attendance figure alone tends to take on a life of its own, it’s worth remembering that a combination of factors — venue selection, promotion, and more — is really behind it.
*This article is an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (Geinou/Sports Express+) thread “[Asian Games] “This turnout is sad” — Nadeshiko J opens with a dominant 8-0 win… but only 1,202 fans show up in a 50,000-capacity venue. No TV broadcast either, fans lament“.
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