Sport participation in Japan

Macromill Research recently took a look at sports marketing.

Demographics

Between the 3rd and 5th of September 2010 2,000 members of the Maromill monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sample was exactly 50:50 male and female in each age band, with 20.0% aged between 15 and 29 years old, 20.0% in their thirties, 20.0% in their forties, 20.0% in their fifties, and 20.0% in their sixties.

In Q9 Macromill were having a quick look at a subject I covered earlier, Yama Girls, but they also found that there really didn’t seem to be much of a movement there.

Research results

Q1: How keen are you on watching or playing sports? (Sample size=2,000)

Keen on both watching and playing	9.4%
More keen on playing than watching	16.8%
More keen on watching than playing	34.3%
Keen on neither watching nor playing	39.6%

Q2: How much do you spend per year on the following? (Sample size=various)

	Average per person	Total market in Japan
Stadium spending (to SQ)	28,538 yen N=535	591.7 billion yen
Sporting goods	33,581 yen N=819	1,210.7 billion yen
Facility usage fees, membership fees	55,249 yen N=653	1,545.2 billion yen

The extrapolation to national figures was performed using government population statistics.

Q2SQ: How much do you spend at stadiums on the following? (Sample size=535)

	Per visit	Per year
Tickets	2,833 yen	9,558 yen
Transport fees	1,894 yen	8,551 yen
Food and drink	1,633 yen	6,376 yen
Goods	549 yen	2,339 yen
Souvenir items	459 yen	1,713 yen

Q3: What is your most favourite sport, regardless of watching or playing? (Sample size=2,000, free answer, top five)

Baseball	16.9%
Football	11.2%
Golf	6.1%
Walking	4.4%
Skating, figure skating	4.4%

Q4: What sports do you watch? (Sample size=2,000, free multiple answer, top five)

Baseball	42.1%
Football	36.0%
Skating, figure skating	18.6%
Golf	17.1%
Volleyball	16.1%

Q5: What sports do you play, do? (Sample size=2,000, free multiple answer, top five)

Walking	21.9%
Jogging, running, marathon	9.8%
Golf	8.2%
Aerobics, gymnastics, circuit training	7.6%
Swimming	6.9%

Q6: What sports do you want to play, do in the future? (Sample size=2,000, free multiple answer, top five)

Walking	28.2%
Yoga, Tai Chi	16.9%
Jogging, running, marathon	15.2%
Swimming	14.7%
Hiking, mountaineering	11.9%

There was then supposed to be a table of people’s favourite sports brand, but it was omitted from the file. However. top was Adidas, next Nike, Ascics, and Mizuno.

Q7: Which Japanese pro baseball team do you support the most? (Sample size=2,000)

Hanshin Tigers	9.5%
Yomiuri Giants	9.4%
Chunichi Dragons	3.3%
Fukuoka Softbank Hawks	3.1%
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	2.8%
Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters	2.5%
Hiroshima Toyo Carp	2.4%
Saitama Seibu Lions	1.1%
Other	3.3%
Don’t support any	62.8%

Weighting for population, we get the following figures for the whole country for people between 15 and 69.

Pro baseball team support

Yomiuri Giants	8.51 million fans
Hanshin Tigers	8.29 million fans
Chunichi Dragons	3.18 million fans
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	2.49 million fans
All teams	33.53 million fans

Q8: Which J-League football team do you support the most? (Sample size=2,000)

Nagoya Grampus Eight	2.0%
Gamba Osaka	1.6%
Urawa Reds	1.5%
Kagoshima Antlers	1.5%
Other team	10.5%
Don’t support any	83.1%

Weighting for population, we get the following figures for the whole country for people between 15 and 69.

Pro football team support

Nagoya Grampus ight	1.77 million fans
Gamba Osaka	1.47 million fans
Urawa Reds	1.35 million fans
Kagoshima Antlers	1.13 million fans
All teams	15.21 million fans

Mountaineering and hiking didn’t get into the top five in Q5, but 115 people or 5.8% reported taking part. The following data was a breakdown of these 115. First, demographically 67.0% were male, 8.7% 29 years old or younger, 12.2% in their thirties, 18.3% in their forties, 24.3% in their fifties, and 36.5% in their sixties.

Q9: What do you like about, what are the attractions of hiking, moutaineering? (Sample size=115, multiple answer)

	Male N=77	Female N=38
Cheer myself up, relieve stress	66.2%	78.9%
Forget about time and lose myself in it	27.3%	39.5%
Feeling of achievement on getting to the top	70.1%	76.3%
Building up my physical strength	31.2%	34.2%
Looking at nature (plants, wild animals, birds)	50.6%	71.1%
View from the summit	63.6%	57.9%
Taking photos	29.9%	21.1%
Eating al fresco	16.9%	26.3%
Outdoor fashion	2.6%	5.3%
Outdoor gear, equipment	7.8%	7.9%
Eating, visiting hot springs after climbing	32.5%	39.5%
Improving my skills to tackle tougher mountains	11.7%	13.2%
Other	3.9%	5.3%