What is the "micro-thinking" that built a sports league from scratch?

※This article is part of an interview series featuring game changers connected to the acceleration program " SPORTS TECH TOKYO." For details, please refer to the end of the article ( ※1 ).

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There is a man who leveraged his business career to develop unique ideas that defied convention, ultimately creating the world's only professional 3x3 basketball league.

Meet Mr. Takaaki Nakamura, Commissioner of 3x3.EXE PREMIER.

3x3.EXE PREMIER was established in 2014 as the world's first professional 3x3 basketball league recognized by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). In just six years, it rapidly grew into a global league with 102 teams from six countries and regions.

With a career path unusual in the sports world—spanning Recruit, a foreign consulting firm, and starting his own business with partners—how did Mr. Nakamura create this growth? And what lies ahead?

The key to unlocking this is the "Micro Mindset."

Building the League with "Micro Thinking" – Minimizing Every Element
 

The "micro philosophy" referred to here means minimizing all elements involved in a sports league.

1. Team operating costs
2. Player career risks
3. Area strategy

This philosophy has significantly influenced the league's growth in these three areas.

Let's explain them in order.

Own a Sports Team for Just 5 Million Yen a Year!?

First is the micro-costing of team operations.

It's still fresh in our memory that in May 2020, the online salon "HIU" (Horie Innovation University), operated by Takafumi Horie, announced its entry into the 3x3.EXE PREMIER.

In that announcement, Horie stated:

"It can be done with a small budget and enables unprecedented operational models. The minimalist approach makes experimentation easy, which is great."

highlighting the benefits of small-scale operations.

So why is this minimal operation possible? The secret lies in the division of roles among teams designed by the league.

Typically in sports leagues, each team signs contracts with players and pays their annual salaries. Especially in popular sports, this total salary expenditure becomes enormous, significantly impacting team management.

However, 3x3.EXE PREMIER differs significantly in this regard. The league handles player contracts, pays player salaries, and holds the event rights. Consequently, the operational risks individual teams must bear are limited.

Mr. Nakamura

"With 5 million yen, you can run a team. As a co-owner, you can own a professional sports team for even less."

As Mr. Nakamura stated, this lowers the operational costs and reduces the barrier to becoming an owner. This is precisely the biggest reason why new participants are joining 3x3.EXE PREMIER worldwide.

A pharmacist as a 3x3 pro player!?

Second is the micro-level reduction of players' career risks. Among the 486 players who competed last season were individuals with diverse occupations like teachers, bankers, and pharmacists.

Anyone aged 16 or older who meets even one of the league's requirements can apply to register as a player themselves, resulting in a large number of "part-time" professional athletes.

This system broadens the base of professional athletes while also creating benefits for career transitions after retirement.

Furthermore, the increased diversity of players leads to a wider range of annual salaries. Mr. Nakamura states:

"Rather than creating one 100-million-yen player, we aim to create 100 players earning 1 million yen each."

This contract structure, which can be seen as a shift in thinking,

This contract mechanism, which could be called a paradigm shift, has surely thrown a stone into the pond of how professional athletes become and work.

Games can be enjoyed with a "local festival vibe"
 

Third, it micro-targets the team's area strategy.

Typically, team management aims to expand revenue by deepening local roots while broadening the commercial catchment area and increasing fans. However, the area strategy of teams joining 3x3.EXE PREMIER takes the opposite approach.

Mr. Nakamura states:

"Our goal is for people in the community to enjoy sports casually, like a neighborhood festival."

As Mr. Nakamura states, 3x3.EXE PREMIER actively promotes holding games in bustling local spots like shopping centers, shrines, and stations.

Mr. Nakamura

"The owners have a strong sense of ownership, believing 'we can do this ourselves,' and they manage their teams with a hands-on approach."

He adds that the teams themselves cherish the local pride found in community festivals and cultivate a strong sense of identity to build a loyal fanbase.

The Potential of Future Professional Sports Leagues Brought by "Micro Thinking"
 

By designing the league with a "micro mindset," 3x3.EXE PREMIER lowers barriers to entry (participation) for owners, players, and fans alike, driving the league's growth. What possibilities might this initiative bring to the future of sports?

With more teams joining the league, numerous patterns for combining broadcast rights, streaming rights, and other media rights should emerge.

Mr. Nakamura predicts. Particularly since 3x3.EXE PREMIER is a global league, not just a local Japanese one, flexible and diverse combinations tailored to the popularity and circumstances of different countries and regions will likely become possible.

Furthermore, like many businesses, "digital utilization" is both a challenge and a significant opportunity for sports teams and leagues. The number and diversity of teams in 3x3.EXE PREMIER also prove advantageous when conducting pilot tests for new technologies.

Each team has different needs and circumstances. With a large number of teams, what proves difficult for one team might be feasible for another. If experiments show effectiveness, other teams can adopt them, eventually becoming league-wide standards.

3x3.EXE PREMIER aims to actively serve as a testing ground.

As Mr. Nakamura states, the "micro-thinking" approach fosters flexibility in adopting external excellence and, consequently, agility in evolving.

In terms of incorporating excellence from outside, the unique player contract system that creates "part-time professional players" serves the same purpose. This system brings diverse expertise into the league and teams.

Just as Mr. Nakamura himself did—transitioning from recruitment to consulting before founding his own company—individuals who honed their business skills outside the sports industry, in other sectors, will bring fresh ideas and strength to team and league operations.

Having built a sports league from scratch, Nakamura is simultaneously creating numerous new options for managing sports teams and leagues. In a world without a single absolute answer, the growth strategy of 3x3.EXE PREMIER itself may be one grand experiment.

※1 INNOVATION LEAGUE
SPORTS TECH TOKYO and the Japan Sports Agency are jointly implementing the "INNOVATION LEAGUE" initiative. This project gathers outstanding technology and business plans from across Japan to solve challenges faced by sports leagues on the ground. 3x3.EXE PREMIER is participating in this project as a collaboration partner.

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