Japan National Stadium will soon have a new name ¡ª MUFG Stadium ¡ª as Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has acquired five-year naming rights, the operator of the stadium said on Wednesday.
The financial services company is joining efforts to strengthen the competitiveness of the stadium, the main venue for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2021, to host more sports, entertainment and other events to increase revenue under privatization.
¡°We are keen to participate as a partner to boost the value of this stadium further to the highest level in the world,¡± said Hironori Kamezawa, CEO of MUFG, at a news conference on Wednesday.
Japan National Stadium Entertainment, the company managing the asset, said the official name will remain Japan National Stadium but the facility will be known as MUFG Stadium from 2026 to 2030.
Kamezawa declined to disclose the price of the naming rights. Local media reported earlier this month that the cost is around ?10 billion ($66 million) for the five-year agreement.
With the stadium looking to become a hub for not only sports and entertainment, but also for business, culture and education, Kamezawa said MUFG can play a significant role given its banking background and its wide range of business connections.
MUFG said the stadium could provide opportunities for client companies to conduct test runs for new technologies and initiatives, while it will also be possible to host events in relation to financial education.
Japan National Stadium was managed by the Japan Sport Council, a semipublic body, and rebuilt in 2019 ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which was eventually postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But recovering more than ?150 billion in construction costs and an estimated ?2.4 billion in annual operation expenses has been a challenge.
To run the operation more efficiently and improve profitability, the management was contracted out to a private company for a 30-year period.
A group led by NTT Docomo ¡ª and also including Maeda Corporation, SMFL Mirai Partners and the J. League ¡ª won a bid last year to run the stadium.
The group created Japan National Stadium Entertainment last September and started managing the stadium in April this year.
By leveraging the J. League¡¯s knowhow of running sports events and Docomo¡¯s entertainment business and marketing expertise, the company aims at hosting more top-level competitions and events.
Japan National Stadium Entertainment is aiming to host more than 120 days of events and attract a total of 2.4 million visitors annually.
The operator has said introducing naming rights will also be a key business strategy.
Japan National Stadium was established in 1958 and hosted Asia¡¯s first Olympics, in 1964.
It hosted the World Athletics Championships last month, attracting nearly 620,000 spectators over nine days.
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