Ruy Ramos, 90% of the reason that pro soccer had a successful launch in Japan and enjoyed a brief season in the sun.
It was the newest shiniest thing in the world of sports. Some people were even predicting it would surpass baseball as Japan's number one sport. But somewhere during that short-lived boom, the shine went off and the Japanese got back to baseball.
They were also giving away free soccer match tickets to all the elementary school kids to help fill the seats. It didn't work so well. I took my kids to one match with the free tickets. It was so boring, more than half of those of us who were half filling the stadium left before half-time.