"Sports Business × Technology": B.LEAGUE's Initiatives to Evolve Marketing

On September 22, the new men's professional basketball league, the B.LEAGUE, commenced. From unifying two top leagues that were effectively split to launching official games featuring the world's first LED floor panels, it has been a series of challenging endeavors even within the history of Japanese professional sports leagues.

Looking at the B.LEAGUE from a marketing perspective, its advanced initiatives in utilizing data and technology are particularly noteworthy. We spoke with Chairman Masaaki Okawa of the league.

Bringing B2C Marketing to the Sports World

―― The B.LEAGUE has identified "thoroughly advancing digital marketing" as one of its key business growth strategies. Could you explain the background behind this?

Ōkawa: Simply put, it stems from viewing sports as a B to C business – something that, in a sense, is fundamental.

Historically, not just basketball but all Japanese pro sports—including baseball and soccer—have relied on parent companies covering operational deficits through advertising budgets. However, the proper sequence should be: revenue from the entertainment business of pro sports comes first, attracting companies that see value in partnering and providing sponsorship funds.

To achieve this, engaging directly with customers—the fans who come to games and buy merchandise—is essential. The B.LEAGUE's strength lies in having started with this vision from its inception, rather than integrating systems midway.

―― Specifically, what initiatives are you undertaking regarding data utilization?

Ōkawa: The primary focus is making ticket purchasing easier. Currently, there are 36 clubs across the B1 and B2 leagues. For the website, we've unified the design and UI across all affiliated clubs. While establishing the league brand is important, we're also prioritizing improving user convenience. As a result, no matter which team's site you access, the path to purchasing tickets is now clear and straightforward.

Additionally, customer data is managed by the league. While each club can only see its own customer data, the league has access to the customer data of all clubs. By analyzing the vast amount of collected data and applying it to ticket sales strategies, sponsorship strategies, and marketing, we may uncover new markets that were previously invisible.

Returning customer data and competition data to the fans

―― Integrating customer data is said to be difficult even within a single company. Wasn't achieving this across 36 clubs a particularly high hurdle?

Ōkawa: Indeed, when we first presented this concept, I think some clubs, having built their own relationships with customers, found it hard to visualize. However, once implemented, the league as a whole will be able to see details like how many times each person has attended a match, the day of the week they attend, the number of tickets purchased per match, and merchandise purchase history. This will enable us to devise the next set of initiatives. We approached this with the same enthusiasm as B2C companies, taking the initiative to guide each club through this process.

Our staff includes experts in professional baseball team operations and marketing. Coming from a banking background, I also possess a practical understanding of marketing based on data like addresses, names, ages, and account activity. Within the league, everyone fully shared this understanding of its importance.

―― Beyond marketing, are there other initiatives utilizing data?

Ōkawa: We provide the basketball-specific analytics tool "Synergy" to all B1 clubs. This tool has been adopted by over 1,500 teams in overseas leagues like the NBA. Beyond functions like analyzing and digitizing game footage—common in other sports—it allows access to data from teams using Synergy worldwide. While strengthening clubs and players is a goal, we also want to translate this into enjoyment for our boosters (fans).

Indeed, we're seeing scenes where fans enjoy sports through numbers in soccer, volleyball, baseball, and others. In basketball, even when watching live at the arena, the scoreboard typically only showed team names and scores. Going forward, we envision mechanisms like being able to view your favorite player's stats in real-time on your smartphone during a game. Furthermore, in the medium to long term, we plan to advance Wi-Fi coverage within arenas, enabling fans not only to access stats but also to replay highlights exactly as they wish.

Building New Relationships Between Professional Leagues and Companies

―― From that perspective, will you also form alliances with the companies listed as partners (sponsors)?

Ōkawa: The partnership we aim for goes beyond simply providing advertising exposure value through signage at game venues. It's a collaboration where we share the B.LEAGUE's three missions: "producing world-class players and teams," "pursuing entertainment value," and "realizing dream arenas." We want to work together starting from the stage of formulating business strategies. For example, Fujitsu is developing technology using sensors to support scoring in figure skating and gymnastics, and we want to apply this to basketball for tactical analysis and player development.

Additionally, SoftBank contributes in information dissemination through initiatives like Sponavi Live and the aforementioned arena Wi-Fi infrastructure. Sony Music Entertainment provides expertise in fan business development, enhancing the appeal of the B.LEAGUE and its players, and merchandise development. Moving forward, we will continue to leverage each company's strengths through the B.LEAGUE while focusing on how this translates into benefits for our partners.

―― What direction do you see the B.LEAGUE heading in the future?

Ōkawa: We want to remain a league that resonates with our target audience of teens to thirty-somethings, no matter the era. While the opening game buzz might give us a cutting-edge image now, next year we might be labeled as "playing catch-up."

Surveys on game attendance intentions and opening game viewership ratings show we surpass professional baseball and the J.League among teens to thirtysomethings, but we lag with middle-aged and older demographics. We accept this and believe persistently appealing to the younger generation is the shortest path to league development. Rather than adapting what currently fits today's youth as they age, we intend to continuously create services and entertainment that consistently resonate with the youth of each era.

For example, we play music at high volume during game productions, like a concert venue. Some might find it noisy, but the question is: "Who are we aiming to appeal to with our content?"

BREAK THE BORDER embodies tolerance and resilience

―― The B.LEAGUE champions the slogan "BREAK THE BORDER," embodying this relentless pursuit of new frontiers.

Ōkawa: I also love the message behind the slogan: "Laugh at precedent! Break common sense! Surpass limits!" This might become a philosophy for work, but using golf as an analogy, to keep evolving, it's crucial to discern "how far you can land in the rough or on the fairway without going out of bounds." This was true in my previous job too. In large organizations, the higher up you go—to bureau chief or department head level—the more people tend to think in terms of keeping things on the fairway. Doing that stifles new ideas within the organization. I believe my role is to maintain tolerance and patience, unless it's a major OB.

Since B.LEAGUE targets younger audiences, it's especially vital to avoid being bound by such "conventional wisdom." That's why I maintain the mindset that having people within the organization who might say, "I don't know a single basketball player's name," could actually help create something interesting for everyone—beginners and core fans alike. It's precisely because they lack that conventional wisdom that they might come up with ideas like, "Actually, going through the next hole might be shorter." This might be something we can say because we're still a relatively small organization, but as we grow in both size and revenue, our theme will be how to maintain this approach. We want to build a league that continues to be loved by everyone.