On October 1, 2026, South Korean media outlet Sports Chosun reported that the low spectator numbers at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games are once again drawing attention.

According to the article, ticket sales for the closing ceremony, in particular, have been sluggish, remaining at approximately 60% of the planned number of tickets, about 10,000, as of September 30. The organizing committee has indicated its policy to continue sales and will hold a lottery for event volunteers, distributing free tickets to winners.

The article pointed out that 'empty seats were noticeable from the opening ceremony at this tournament.' It conveyed that at the opening ceremony, 'empty seats were noticeable in a venue with a capacity of approximately 30,000 people, and poor ticket sales were a concern.' Furthermore, it stated, 'What became a big topic was the Japan-South Korea women's football semi-final held on September 29,' and explained that only 998 people, according to official announcements, attended the stadium with a capacity of 50,000.

As of September 23, the organizing committee announced that the ticket sales rate for 8 events, including the closing ceremony, baseball, boxing, and football, was less than 60%. On the other hand, the situation varies greatly depending on the event, with sales rates exceeding 90% for badminton, table tennis, and wrestling, among others. Regarding ticket sales, the organizing committee announced that over 1 million tickets had been sold overall and stated that 'many events have high sales rates.'

However, the article pointed out that 'this tournament plans to sell a total of 2.3 million tickets, and it has not reached half of that.' It conveyed that 'attracting spectators to the entire tournament has become a challenge.'

Regarding this, South Korean netizens commented, 'There are various issues with this Asian Games, aren't there?' 'Were there so few spectators in previous years too?' 'Is the popularity difference between events really this big?' 'Even so, for an international tournament, to have so many empty seats...' 'Shouldn't they have put more effort into public relations?' and 'I think there's a need to investigate the reasons why spectators didn't come, such as ticket prices, sales methods, and access to the venue.'

Also, comments included, 'I think sports events themselves are less popular than before, making it harder to attract crowds,' 'Even though popularity is already declining, it feels like only operational blunders have been talked about, preventing it from truly getting exciting,' 'Why did Japan even host it in the first place?' and 'Wouldn't it be better to open up events with unsold tickets for free?' (Translation/Editing by Higuchi)