Machida tells students the “reality of professional soccer clubs” Ueda COO implements a “business school” that lived at Tamagawa University – Sakabaka Diary – Soccer column: Daily Sports

FC Machida Zelvia operates a management cram school for students in the Faculty of Business Administration at Tamagawa University (Machida City), where we have signed a top partner agreement.

In mid-May, a reporter in his 50s also attended the class, with young students mixed in with attending it.

Classes from April this year (Photo by Tamagawa University)

■ “Projects for expanding fans”

Ueda Musashi (30), the club's representative director and COO, became the lecturer, and in April he covered all the realities of management under the title “The Reality of Professional Soccer Clubs.” Finally, they gave the students homework as a “question”.

The content was a measure to “expand the Zelvia fans of Machida citizens.”

(1) Measures at the Stadium

(2) Daily measures other than match days

Students asked for each proposal. The students faced their “homework” on each team and spent about three weeks coming up with ideas. This time the presentation was held in May.

Before Ueda watched, the three teams A, B, and C were announced. All of these were thoughtfully thoughtful, and I was once again struck by the flexible and positive thinking of the students. I would like to take a look at some of the most memorable ones.

Machida Ueda Musashi COO (Photo by Tamagawa University) gives lectures on club management

■AR Stadium Tour

Team A has the concept of “a stadium that allows you to feel it from “seeing.”

Focusing on the average age of fans watching the game, the average age of over 41 years old, which is high from the perspective of the student generation, he devised a policy aimed at increasing fans among younger age groups.

It is a plan to go to an AR stadium tour that involves the anime “Inazuma Eleven,” which has become addicted to the present age of 15 to 24.

AR means “augmented reality,” and the use of digital information in the real world through screens such as smartphones and glasses. Things start moving around on the screen, and various information appears. Experiential cases using AR technology are being carried out in various locations as tourism policies aimed at inbound tourism (visitors visiting Japan), and are gaining popularity.

The proposed AR tour will lead to the audience by creating a sense of affinity for the generation who once enjoyed anime, saying “nostalgia,” “know,” and “seems interesting,” and incorporating “memorable experiences” at the stadium. The program then moves to a three-stage process: “Making it a habit to visit.” It is said that it will amplify watching games to the realm of experiential entertainment.

As a club branding secluded match venues as “Castle in the Sky,” you can enjoy just the ninja hiding in the castle in the digital space. I've always visited for interviews, so I definitely wanted to try it out.

Some of the PowerPoints of the “AR Tour” project created by students

■Gourmet reforms to make it a swamp

Team B had the concept of “unleashing Machida the Zelvia enthusiasm.”

The aim is to create a stadium that makes you want to experience it by watching it. The team will deepen their connections with players and teams by offering meals produced by players and coaches as part of a “gourmet reform.”

Suddenly I came to mind coach Kuroda Tsuyoshi.

I spent a lot of time in Aomori, where seafood is blessed with a lot of food. Perhaps because of this background, he compared the team's lack of decisiveness to “fishing,” saying, “It's going well to the point where it bites the food, but there are mistakes in the technique of catching fish. It's like breathing with fish that resists, or timing. It's something like that, helping others around you, and that ultimately leads to the fish missing.”

In that case, I would like them to come up with gourmet food made with seafood from Aomori… as an aside.

This policy aims to bring closer together the coaches and players. He emphasized that the key point is whether the key is to expand awareness by using social media, an essential item in the digital age, and to “make yourself hooked and enthralled.”

Part of the power point of the “gourmet reform” project proposed by students

Become a small owner

Team C had also proposed to “issuing fan tokens.”

By having a currency issued by a club, a type of digital currency, you can receive a variety of perks. It has spread from clubs in Europe and the United States, and various sports clubs have also introduced it in Japan. The key is that fans can have club-issued tokens, which means “become small owners due to the relationship between supporters and consumers.” The community that supports them has strengthened, and it seems to be a good target for attracting new fans.

The difference between fan clubs is also defined as “a fan club is a membership system for receiving perks, while one token is a cheering action, and supporting them leads to value.” We also looked into data comparing the token situations of various clubs, barriers to entry and solutions, which made it clear that students were very motivated.

“Barriers and solutions” for introducing fan tokens created by students

■Knowing the market

There are a few of the above mentioned, but there were also many other ideas that “this is good.”

With each presentation, Ueda asks each team a few insightful questions, and the idea of ​​what background led them to the policy is further evoked. The serious interactions also honed the students' thoughts. It was a truly lively lesson.

Ueda-san told the following to the students.

The key points when considering policies begin with knowing the attributes and characteristics of the target target and market research. He also provided points regarding the policy.

・Senseful assignment setting

・Identifying overwhelming measures

・Consistent policy proposals

All of them come from my own rules of experience. The words and passionate explanations that stimulated knowledge were deeply stimulating not only the students but also the reporters who attended the lecturer.

The current initiative between Zelvia and Tamagawa University is a slightly casual collaboration between industry and academia. Although they do not produce results as business partners, students learn through direct exposure to the ideas and teachings of business owners who are active in society. On the other hand, Ueda-san can learn about free and flexible ideas for young people. Multiplication that creates synergistic effects. Each person was thinking about one theme from a different perspective, leading to new realizations.

“Evaluation criteria” for policies presented by Ueda COO

■Incorporate trends and changes

The annual Zelvia class is held, but this year marks the third time Ueda himself has held it.

“Every year, I am surprised. I had some ideas that were better than I expected, so there were some that I could use right away. I thought they were making high-quality suggestions.”

It seems that he also put into practice what young employees have discussed on a daily basis in his university lectures. CyberAgent, the leading IT company, has the resources of new technologies and services. By bringing this to the club, you can see that in addition to the appeal of soccer, you also want to provide a variety of added value.

“Of course, winning soccer matches remains the same. Furthermore, I believe that the best measures will change depending on the trends and trends of the times, as well as how to deliver (the charm and fun) to the fans, how to enjoy it on the day of the game, and the branches that color the core of the essence. We would like to be an organization and club that can continue to update this with the latest version.”

Once again, it seemed like J Clubs are a local public property. It is not just an entertainment business, but by collaborating with local communities, it is also linked to new human resources development and opportunities creation.

Building a better society through sports. The J Club's “sharen” is carried out steadily every day, in an invisible place.[Sato Takashi](Nickan Sports.com/Soccer Column “Sakabaka Diary”)