FC Tokyo's 2023 fiscal year financial report, announced on May 21st. The operating revenue reached a record high of 5.929 billion yen, achieving a growth of 660 million yen compared to the previous year. However, there is also the current situation of recording a deficit for the fourth consecutive year.
What kind of efforts were made there? And what is the current state of the club, looking towards a complete recovery from the pandemic and the future?
In the second part, we talked to President Shiya Kawagishi about the current state of emblem changes, as well as the combination of business and strengthening.
Coverage and Composition = Kei Sato (Freelance Writer)
──The club emblem has been updated since the 2024 season. Please tell us about the background and effects of this change.
Kawagishi What I felt when I became president was that the goal setting within the club was ambiguous. Even though the fans and supporters had a common goal of winning the J1 League, there were various opinions on what kind of club they wanted. Therefore, in early 2023, we formulated "FC Tokyo VISION 2030" and shared our goal setting, including the way the club should be.
Change EmblemWhen I became president, I never thought about changing the emblem, but as we formulated VISION2030, we also thought about the role of the emblem. There are many things we need to do to achieve VISION2030. So we decided to change the emblem and show our determination to move forward and take on the challenge. The design embodies the meaning of "inheritance and innovation." One supporter said, "I can feel your determination even though I know there will be criticism." As a club, we have set new goals and this was our effort to take a new step towards the next quarter century, which also coincides with the 25th anniversary of the club's founding.
──What do you think about the current situation with the adoption of the new emblem?
Kawagishi I don't think everyone is fully convinced, but I feel that it is gradually being accepted. The opportunities to actually hold our merchandise have increased, and the sales of the 2024 season uniforms are significantly higher compared to the same period in the 2023 season. The sales figures at the stadium are unprecedented, marking a start that has exceeded our expectations. There are still not many well-developed products utilizing the new emblem, so we will continue to advance product development gradually. We hope that you will observe the club's determination and activities, and we aim to progress so that one day everyone will be convinced.
──The increase in uniform sales has been a trend since last year. Is there a possibility of further increase in revenue in 2024?
Jean At any club, the majority of merchandise sales are dominated by uniforms. I have also talked about this with the chairman (Naoki), but I have heard that FC Tokyo has a culture of supporting the team by wearing blue or red items. Even before I took office, I have been working to have everyone wear the uniform and support the team, and the results are starting to show. In fact, even during the pandemic, merchandise sales have been steadily increasing, and we were able to jump up last season after the pandemic. And it looks like we will be able to move up to an even higher level this season.
Will the landing of numbers be higher than planned for merchandise sales?
Kawagishi In the 2023 fiscal year, the number was 600 million yen, but I think it will exceed that. However, in the financial statement announced by Urawa Reds, the merchandise income was 1.65 billion. There is always room for improvement. While recognizing the potential, I would like to aim for around 900 million to 1 billion yen first.
──In the context of "VISION2030", 2023 was positioned as "escaping from the COVID-19 pandemic". How is this past year being summarized?
Kawagishi was able to "recover" faster than expected. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was significant, with sales dropping from 56 billion yen in 2019 to 46 billion yen in 2020. When I became president in 2022, I was worried about how far we could recover. In such a situation, for the fiscal years 2022 and 2023, we first aimed to return sales to the level of 2019 before the pandemic.
However, it was able to surpass the 2019 fiscal year in the 2023 fiscal year. It can be said that we entered the "Phase 2" of the "VISION2030" growth period, which was originally thought to be after the 2024 fiscal year, as of the 2023 fiscal year. However, it is important to note that we have not fully recovered everything from before the pandemic.
──What does that mean?
Kawagishi Compared to before the pandemic, attendance has only returned to about 93 percent of the 2019 season. Upon examining the details, it became clear that there has been significant turnover. In other words, it is not the case that 93 percent of the people who were present during the 2019 season have returned; rather, the current attendance of 93 percent includes many new attendees. This fact is shared among the clubs, and we must accept this point calmly.
- Is it still a very difficult task to acquire new customers in the future? For example, will holding matches at the Japan National Stadium have a significant impact?
Kawagishi Since the 2022 season, we have already held 6 matches at the Japan National Stadium. The effects are definitely showing. The number of people registered for FC Tokyo with a J.League ID will soon reach 600,000. This is an outstanding figure in the J.League, with many registering as part of initiatives aimed at hosting events at the National Stadium. Analyzing the residential areas, it is clearly leaning more towards the eastern side of Tokyo compared to when events were held at Ajinomoto Stadium. In terms of being able to approach people we have never encountered before, hosting matches at the National Stadium can be considered an important opportunity.
──To turn new customers into repeat customers, I believe it is important to not ignore the improvement of the core appeal of football itself. Both conveying this appeal to those who have not yet experienced it and enhancing the attractiveness of the football played by the team are important, and it may not be a matter of prioritizing one over the other. What are your thoughts on this?
Kawagishi First and foremost, in professional sports clubs, the team's performance itself becomes the value. In the case of FC Tokyo, as it is a soccer club, the content and results of soccer, as well as the presence and name value of the players, become the source of the club's value. It is the job of the business staff to turn this value into money and reinvest it. It is clear that what is transmitted from the pitch, in other words, the performance, is important and this is an unchangeable fact. It is also a fundamental principle to not neglect investing in this aspect.
When I first became president, I was a complete outsider when it came to soccer, so I didn't know what to do right away. On the other hand, I was able to quickly grasp areas for improvement on the business side. So I focused on improving the business side, which resulted in increasing sales by nearly 6 billion yen in just 2 years. However, personally, I feel that the business side has reached its maximum potential. As I mentioned earlier, the club's brand value is created through soccer. So the next step is to improve our performance in soccer. The theory is to turn the gears in soccer and recover in business. It's not like we haven't paid attention to the competitive side before, but starting this season, we are actively working on it.
──What specific initiatives are you starting?
Kawagishi Last season, we finished 11th in the Meiji Yasuda J1 League, which is obviously not a satisfactory result. We definitely need to improve in terms of performance. The difficult part is that everything in this field is about 'people.' For example, even if we have analysts and implement various analysis systems, it is still people who arrange and express that on the pitch. When you think about it, it is a very analog world, which makes it challenging. Improving player performance also relies on people, so it is necessary to invest in the foundational 'people.' Of course, this is based on the intentions of the field, but specifically, we have increased the number of staff involved in the soccer aspect.
──When covering practice, there are many staff members and voices can be heard, making me feel more lively than ever before.
Kawagishi Of course, I understand that it is not as easy as simply increasing the number of people to immediately lead to results. We must carefully assess the situation each time. Another thing I discussed with General Manager Mitsushiro OBARA is that sports are greatly influenced by mental factors, and especially FC Tokyo has a lot of ups and downs. We are adding staff to support the mental aspect in order to minimize the waves of good and bad performances and maintain a high level.
As a club, we can support the improvement of athletic performance by investing in people and the environment. Therefore, we have first strengthened our staff. We believe that we now have a system in place that can support players and teams more meticulously than ever before.
──What about the aspect of player reinforcement? Looking at last season's standings, Vissel Kobe, with the highest personnel expenses in the top team for the 2022 season, and Yokohama F.Marinos, with the second highest, ended up in first and second place in the league. FC Tokyo's personnel expenses were 2.538 billion yen, ranking 9th overall. This is a common case in major European leagues, but what are your thoughts on this?
Kawagishi I think that's exactly right. Even if we analyze various things, there is definitely a correlation between labor costs and rankings. We are aware that our strengthening costs are 9th in the league, and that is an area we want to address as a club challenge. In order to do that, we are focusing on increasing revenue as a business side, and we want to create a solid organization so that we can invest.
However, this also requires a certain amount of time. Therefore, I also feel that we need to do something to move up to the next level as soon as possible. We want to strengthen our management foundation and create a situation where we can make a jump somewhere. Of course, we don't want to end up in a situation where we bet everything and it's all over in one year, so we want to continue to expand our base and carefully assess our chances. At this point, we cannot promise anything to our fans and supporters, but please know that we are considering such a direction.
──Finally, please give a message to the fans and supporters.
Kawagishi The change of the emblem has altered the traditions from the club's founding period, and because everyone has had various feelings and thoughts, there may have been a time last season when the FC Tokyo family felt a bit fragmented. This season, the team's performance seems to be stabilizing little by little, and I feel that the support in the stadium is becoming more unified. I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for creating a wonderful atmosphere. Based on the club policy outlined in 'VISION2030', I hope to move forward and make the 2024 season one that fosters a greater sense of unity. Let's continue to move forward together.
The first part is here
