On October 10, two venues at opposite ends of Japan will begin selling tickets for every race operated by the Japan Racing Association, or JRA (日本中央競馬会).

J-PLACE Oga (J-PLACE男鹿), in Akita Prefecture, and J-PLACE Mizobe (J-PLACEみぞべ), in Kagoshima, may appear to be modest additions to Japan’s extensive racing infrastructure. Together, however, they illustrate how JRA is adapting its physical distribution network as more than four-fifths of its betting turnover moves online.

Neither venue is a new JRA betting shop. Instead, JRA is placing its product inside facilities already built for other publicly operated forms of gambling.

JRA’s established off-course network is known as WINS (ウインズ). These are specialist venues where customers can watch central horse racing, buy tickets and collect winnings without visiting one of JRA’s ten racecourses.

WINS remains commercially important, but it is losing ground. JRA recorded ¥296.9 billion ($2.02 billion) in WINS turnover during 2025, down 3.2% from the previous year. Its share of central racing sales fell from 9.3% to 8.5%.

Telephone and internet betting, meanwhile, generated ¥2.83 trillion ($19.2 billion), representing 81.1% of JRA sales.

That does not mean physical betting has become irrelevant. It does mean that constructing more large, dedicated WINS venues is increasingly difficult to justify. Oga and Mizobe provide another solution: expand the physical footprint without opening another standalone JRA facility.

The two venues will operate under the BAOO (バオー) brand, managed by Nippon Racing Service (日本レーシングサービス). BAOO primarily distributes chihō keiba (地方競馬), Japan’s regional horse-racing product. Facilities that also offer JRA races receive the additional J-PLACE designation.

Oga and Mizobe are located inside existing Satellite complexes offering keirin (競輪, track cycling) and auto race (オートレース, motorcycle speedway). Customers will therefore be able to access national racing, regional racing and other publicly operated betting products in the same building.

Both venues will operate 365 days a year. Oga will provide 419 seats and parking for 505 cars, while Mizobe will have 345 seats and 828 parking spaces. From October, each will sell every race from every JRA meeting, including advance sales.

These are not simply new betting shops. They are shared regional distribution hubs designed to make existing infrastructure serve more products and more customers.

J-PLACE accounted for only 2.1% of central racing turnover in 2025. Nevertheless, it processed ¥73.6 billion ($500 million) in wagers, an increase of 3.7% year on year. Its customer count also rose slightly to 5.51 million while the comparable WINS figure declined.

The contrast is notable: JRA’s traditional off-course channel is shrinking, while the smaller network built on regional racing infrastructure continues to grow.

Oga and Mizobe will become the fifth and sixth BAOO outlets offering JRA betting, joining Tottori Iwami (鳥取岩美), Mitoya (三刀屋), Ube (宇部) and Arao (荒尾). JRA’s regional listings suggest the openings will take the wider J-PLACE network to approximately 64 sales locations.

The arrangement is not fully integrated. J-PLACE tickets generally cannot be redeemed at WINS or JRA racecourses, and JRA’s UMACA cashless service is unavailable. The organisations share physical distribution while retaining separate ticketing systems.

Oga and Mizobe will not transform JRA’s business on their own. Yet they reveal the direction of travel.

In an overwhelmingly online market, physical betting is not disappearing. Rather than building another WINS, JRA is making Japan’s existing gambling infrastructure work harder.

We track how money, players and regulation move across East Asia's gaming markets — including the parts that don't show up in the official figures. If that's your world, reply. The best context usually comes from comparing notes.

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East Asia Reports
Web: eastasiareports.com · Email: [email protected]
Author — Adrià Mas Rodríguez