How New Japan Pro Wrestling of America can attract more female fans

New Japan Pro Wrestling announced that they will have a stronger foothold in the U.S. with New Japan Pro Wrestling of America. But how will they market it?

What a time for wrestling fans. That’s a phrase that’s been repeated a lot in the last few years. And now, adding to the excitement, NJPW has announced that they will be expanding into the U.S. even more with the formation of New Japan Pro Wrestling of America (NJoA).

With NJoA, there will be more live shows that will be expanding into other parts of the U.S. The plan is for the company to run 12-13 shows next in 2020, which is double the amount of events this year. The announcement came on Oct. 21.

While this is all very exciting, there was one statement that ruffled some feathers. In a tweet, now deleted, there was a quote from NJPW CEO Takami Obari. The tweet read: “On key differences between US and Japanese markets: America is skewed more towards male fans, and they consume content digitally as opposed to through TV.”

On NJPW’s website, there is a transcript from the press conference. This is the quote that the tweet referenced: “Audiences also skew more male; in Japan, our male female balance at events is 60:40, while in America it’s more 80:20.” In the press conference, Obari cites “market research,” as the basis for these numbers.

Some of the market research has been conducted after each live U.S. event, beginning with the G1 Special in 2017. Fans have been offered stickers, buttons and phone wallpapers in exchange for taking the surveys. Assuming they also looked at their relationship with Ring of Honor in the last few years, NJPW would have also seen a large male fanbase due to Bullet Club and their popularity in the United States.

NJoA has an opportunity to cater to U.S. female fans as they do in Japan. The same transcript says the male/female ratio is 60:40 there. Some female fans are known to travel throughout the country to attend shows. NJPW even has a special female-only section so that they can watch shows without having to worry about being bothered by male spectators. Some of the wrestlers that are marketed are very attractive. NJPW has sold items such as very popular photo books and stuffed bears to capitalize on that fact. They have gone out of their way to attract and keep female fans in Japan.

There are groups of female fans in the U.S. who have traveled to the domestic NJPW shows and some who have attended shows in Japan. The U.S. shows haven’t offered for them to sit in special sections. In fact, they weren’t treated like the Japanese female fans at all.

One way to bring in more female wrestling fans would be for NJoA to treat female fans in a way that they aren’t typically treated here. Market wrestlers towards female fans, sell similar merchandise (especially female sizes, as they typically sell whatever is leftover from other shows) and offer them a new, different live wrestling experience that is just as welcoming as it is in Japan.

Female fans will spend money when they are interested and when they feel like their investment matters as much as male fans’. They will attend (and discuss) shows, buy merchandise, subscribe to channels or networks and sometimes travel. Most of the major U.S. promotions have not zeroed in on this.

NJoA can make a strong impression right away by how they market and treat female fans. It can build a stronger female fanbase that will keep coming back if they just take a cue from how they market their product in Japan.