Sporting events as an opportunity for charitable giving.

Yoshida, Masayuki

People in the devastated area are in desperate need of help. However, volunteer support was limited right after the earthquake because much of the transport infrastructure was destroyed by the tsunami. The only thing people could do was to donate money for the victims. Japanese major sports leagues and teams immediately worked on a fundraising effort and used their pre-season matches as an opportunity for charitable giving. For example, the Japan Football Association had a charity match between its national team and a team of players from the domestic J-League. While the J-League decided to cancel all Division I, Division II, and Nabisco Cup games in March after the earthquake, the charity match took place in Osaka on March 29, urging fans to donate for relief efforts. In a similar fashion, the Japan Professional Baseball League and its member teams also united for the victims. Twelve teams had six charity games on April 2. Players of each team, including most popular Nippon-Ham Fighters rookie, Yuki Saito, collected money from their fans at the entrance locations before the games started. People tend to view major sports teams as organizations that guarantee the collected money is used for charitable purposes and public benefits.

Masayuki Yoshida, PhD

Sport Business Program

Biwako Seikei Sport College

E-mail: yoshida-m@bss.ac.jp