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The story
On the 7th, Akita Mayor Jun Numatani reiterated his stance that “the club should cover the maintenance and management costs” for the new stadium of J2 side Blaublitz Akita. The August council session, which closed the same day, passed a supplementary budget bill that included funding for drafting a basic plan for the new stadium. On 5ch, alongside discussion of how J.League stadiums are often funded by municipalities covering not just construction costs but even day-to-day operating costs, it became a talking point that the Mainichi Shimbun itself had used the critical term “tax league.” Opinions were also divided over the fact that general public use will be restricted to preserve the natural grass, and over whether regional cities even have the capacity to sustain professional sports at all.
On the 7th, Akita Mayor Jun Numatani once again emphasized that “the club should cover the maintenance and management costs” for the new stadium that will serve as the home of J2 side Blaublitz Akita.
At Akita City’s August council session, which closed on the 7th, the city’s FY2025 settlement of accounts was approved, and a supplementary budget bill was passed covering the Sotoasahikawa district development project, the cost of drafting a basic plan for the new stadium, and the cost of revising the basic plan for redeveloping the wholesale market.
Mayor Jun Numatani:
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/276940a809c8eb26fda2dc9008b77fa058cc1ce7
In J.League stadium projects funded by public money, an unbridgeable gap is showing up nationwide between municipalities with strained finances due to population decline and a J.League that demands high-standard facilities. Critical opinions calling it the "tax league" remain persistent on social media.
Sad news: now even the Mainichi is calling it the tax league
So even the Mainichi is calling it the 'tax league' now, huh
Somebody start a whole thread over this lol
Should be nominated for Buzzword of the Year (Japan's annual award for trending slang)
and on top of that their corporate tax payment is actually negative.
They're probably not even paying proper usage fees
"You guys are a tax league."
The previous chairman is the one who let that phrase loose in the first place lol lol lol
>we expect general public use to be possible for roughly 80 to 130 days a year."
In cold-climate Akita, of all places?
At a "tax stadium" with a running track that has no open buffer zone to let sunlight in, and where the roof's shadow causes sunlight problems?
Sounds like BS
I think they mean Kentucky bluegrass — that's a cold-climate turf.
It's cold-hardy, resilient, and highly durable against wear, but it's extremely weak against heat
Natural grass upkeep is only there for the J.League's sake, so the message is basically "you pay for it yourselves"
Since the natural grass has to be maintained,
the general public can't use it
Why does a private club have to maintain a municipal facility? If you don't like it, just don't build it.
There's no actual need to build it — if you don't like the terms, don't build it, period.
Stirring up controversy for attention like this is going to come back and bite them someday.
Honestly, Akita should just quit the J.League entirely.
A municipality that trash-talks a specific organization like this has no business being in football.
The J.League gets along fine without Akita anyway,
and there are plenty of other regions with stadiums already hoping for promotion.
If all you're going to do is bash them, don't build it. Seriously — don't build it
Because of a certain team in Kanagawa, everyone already knows that even if you threaten to "relocate!" there's no city willing to take you in.
It'll just end with everyone saying "sure, go ahead, be our guest."
Must be so frustrating, huh lol lol lol (a mocking, taunting stock phrase)
I doubt any municipality out there actually wants to take in Blaublitz, but sure, go ahead.
The Nippon-Ham Fighters did move out to Kitahiroshima, after all
It's hopeless — these cities don't have the foundation for it to begin with
Isn't this a prefecture with a pointless surplus of baseball stadiums?
Might as well keep chasing after pro franchises forever lol
Exactly.
Looking at the J.League, it just looks like a broken system.
Even with stadium usage fees waived or cut, and construction and repairs handled by local government — getting the equivalent of hundreds of millions of yen in backing every single year — almost no clubs turn a profit, since it all gets poured into player salaries.
That's why even J1 clubs are only valued at a few hundred million to a bit over a billion yen.
There's no other way to describe it — it's finished
It's the J.League and the Japan Football Association who don't get something this obvious
Background and Key Points of This Debate
The “tax league” criticism aimed at stadium development isn’t unique to Akita — it’s a pattern playing out at J.League clubs nationwide, rooted in a mismatch between municipalities squeezed financially by population decline and a J.League that demands facilities meeting a certain standard. This case stands out because the Akita mayor took the opposite tack, asking the club itself to cover maintenance costs — an unusual stance, given that municipalities more often end up shouldering operating costs on top of construction costs. The thread blends a practical argument — that natural-grass upkeep makes general public access difficult — with a more emotional one about whether pro sports can even survive in regional cities, both recurring patterns on 5ch. The discussion centers on whether making the stadium club-exclusive is justified and on doubts about profitability, and contains no baseless accusations against any specific individual or company.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Geisports Sokuho+) thread “[Soccer] New Stadium: Akita Mayor Numatani Reiterates “The Club Should Cover Maintenance Costs” — Related Budget Bill Passed.”
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