[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] As Japan prepares to face Croatia in the Round of 16 of the 2022 Qatar World Cup at midnight Korea time on the 6th, CyberAgent, the operator of AbemaTV, a company that live streams the Qatar World Cup matches in Japan, announced that it may restrict platform access.
According to Bloomberg on the 5th, CyberAgent stated that with the Japanese national soccer team advancing to the Round of 16, there has been a sudden surge in users wanting to watch the Qatar World Cup, and they will implement measures to provide stable service. As part of these measures, the company is considering limiting the number of users who can stream the Round of 16 matches, which started the day before.
CyberAgent also cautioned that even users currently watching the match may experience difficulties resuming viewing if access is partially blocked due to internet issues, so they should be careful.
In Japan, demand for streaming the Qatar World Cup has significantly increased, especially among people in their 20s. Susumu Fujita, president of CyberAgent, posted on Twitter that immediately after the third group stage match between Japan and Spain ended at 4 a.m. on the 2nd, the number of AbemaTV users reached an all-time high. It is interpreted that the surge in users caused server instability, necessitating a response.
Following the news of the rapid increase in users, CyberAgent’s stock price surged 4% on the 2nd. Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Toyo Securities, said, "CyberAgent’s stock price is rising on expectations that AbemaTV will be able to generate advertising revenue in the long term."
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