Emergence of a professional sports league and human capital formation for sports: The Japanese Professional Football League

The Japanese Professional Football League (J-league) was established in 1993. Based on individual level data, this study investigated how emergence of the league affected Japanese people playing football using the differences-in-differences method. The following main findings were obtained. (1) In areas where a J-League team’s home town was located, people were more likely to play football after emergence of the J-League than before it emerged. (2) There was a positive effect of the J-league on people who were younger and older than 25 years old between 1991 and 1996. (3) Between 1991 and 2006, this positive effect persisted and increased for younger people, while it disappeared for older people. Running title: Emergence of professional sports