Celtic star Nakamura covers 10% of total Japanese merchandise
tribalfooball.com - June 30, 2007
Celtic star Shunsuke Nakamura accounts for 10 per cent of Japan's entire footballing merchandise market.
The Japan international midfielder's popularity is expected to see Celtic tour the country next summer for three games which will rake in more than £1 million.
Over £2 million has been made from sales of Celtic jerseys in Japan, with the player, himself, earning around £1 million from endorsements thanks to his and Celtic's association with Nike.
"Nike is delighted by what is happening in our Asia market," Celtic's commercial director David Thomson told
Scotland on Sunday. "Being a leader in its field, it has the ability to respond quickly to burgeoning markets. Our partners and wholesalers for other products are likewise happy and have enjoyed similar profitable returns. But the really exciting aspect for us is developing interest in Celtic as a club.
"On our website there is a capacity for downloading old games from past eras and that has proved popular among Japanese football fans who are becoming knowledgeable and committed followers of Celtic as an institution. We have supporters' clubs branches in Tokyo where more than 50% of the members are locals. We are building a stable fan-base that need not be entirely dependant on Shunsuke."
