Pandemic to ‘cost Japan sports billions’

Economist Katsuhiro Miyamoto said that many of the country’s professional competitions will suffer losses of US$2.56 billion.

Japan.- The Covid-19 pandemic could cost the sports industry in Japan ‘billions’ according to a renowned economist.

Katsuhiro Miyamoto said that many of the country’s professional competitions will suffer losses of US$2.56 billion.

Merchandise manufacturers, sports equipment and stadium concessions are also expected to be hit hard.

Japan’s premier division of football, the J League, is currently out of action, while the Tokyo 2020 Olympics has been postponed to next year.

The report covered the J League and many of the country’s professional sports such as sumo, Nippon Professional Baseball and basketball’s B League.

However, sports with legalized betting such as horse racing were excluded from the report.

In a statement, Miyamoto said: “Japan’s pro sports industries have been hit hard by the coronavirus, which has caused problems since around the beginning of this year.

“Bigger organisations, clubs and teams could perhaps endure it, but there are concerns for smaller-scale organisations and clubs that will require a lot more time to recover from it.”