Japan's biggest professional sports league -- and the second biggest in the world, in terms of annual attendance (over 26 million in 2019) -- Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) is looking at a rule change that will allow raising the limit on the number of fans that can attend games.
Japan's current COVID-19 regulations limit the number of spectators at sports events to 50% of the venue capacity or up to a total of 5,000 people.
The government initially planned to ease the measures at the end of September, but after a joint request by NPB and the soccer J-League, government officials are now considering abolishing the 5,000 cap by 19 September.
NPB and J-League are proposing to increase fan attendance to 20,000 per game.
"We have been doing well, while changing our guidelines to ensure that spectators can enjoy a safe and secure environment." NPB Commissioner Atsushi Saito said during a recent press conference. He said NPB's COVID-19 countermeasures have "been effective".
The potential new plan will be discussed and reviewed at a meeting between a panel of health experts on Friday, 11 September.
