Empower Becomes The Title Sponsor of the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) In Fukuoka

Empower Corporation, the parent company of Japan’s leading secondhand goods retailer, Kaitori Daikichi, has become?the title sponsor of the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) 2024 in Fukuoka, Japan.??

Through the deal, the event will be now known as the Kaitori Daikichi Volleyball Nations League 2024 Fukuoka.

The men’s competition will happen from June 4 to 9 at the West Japan General Exhibition Centre, New Hall, while the women’s teams will compete from June 11 to 16 in the same venue.

The premier world volleyball tournament features 16 of the world’s top men’s and women’s teams competing in iconic cities around the globe each year for eight weeks. The VNL 2024 is pivotal as the FIVB Volleyball World Ranking at the end of the qualifying round of this tournament will determine the last national teams to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Twelve slots are available for the Paris Olympics after six countries, in addition to the host nation France, booked their tickets at the FIVB Paris Olympics Qualifier/Volleyball World Cup 2023, held in September and October of last year. The remaining five countries including the highest ranked team from Africa will be decided based on the world rankings at the end of the preliminary phase.

To date, in addition to the host nation France, the men’s field includes Brazil, Canada, Germany, Poland, USA and Japan, who have qualified on their own for the first time in 16 years. In the women’s competition, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Poland, Serbia, Türkiye and the USA have all qualified.

The VNL 2024 will be the last chance for the five remaining tickets to the Paris Olympics.

Finn Taylor, CEO of Volleyball World, said, “We are delighted to welcome Empower Inc. as the title sponsor of the Volleyball Nations League 2024 Fukuoka. This is the first title sponsorship in Japan since the VNL began and this support will make a significant contribution to the growth of volleyball in Japan, an important market for the sport. We look forward to hosting a memorable tournament for people around the world and showcasing international volleyball at its best.”

Shunsuke Masui, President of Empower Inc., added, “We have a corporate philosophy of ‘making everyone shine, creating the future together and changing common sense’, and through VNL 2024 Fukuoka, we hope to make everyone involved shine, especially young people, and to be a force that helps them realise their dreams. This partnership will surely contribute to the further promotion and development of volleyball”.

According to ASN data, volleyball is forecasted for an excellent Q224 with almost US$10.3m in sponsorship investment, almost 1.5x of the US$6.9m average quarterly investment since Q321. Meanwhile, Japan (19.5%) is the 3rd?largest market for investment, just behind China (29.2%) and Thailand (27.4%).

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This article was first published in ASN's April 2024 no. 1 newswire.