Junya Yamamoto, General Manager of the Racing Business Department, Sales Solutions Division, DMM.com LLC

Doing what you love for work: DMM Keirin's new challenge

DMM.com LLC Sales Solutions Headquarters Racing Business Department Manager　Junya Yamamoto　(Yamamoto Junya)

■ Profile
He worked as a magazine editor and produced pachinko programs at a pachinko publishing company. He also worked in horse racing magazines, covering racecourses, stables, and ranches, and performing general editing duties. He has been working there for nine years since moving to DMM. He became interested in keirin through his work, and now rides his road bike every morning to get some exercise.

Yamamoto Junya is the business manager of DMM Keirin. He has loved horse racing since he was young, but after transferring to DMM, he started to love Keirin. Yamamoto embodies the ideal way of working that everyone aspires to, "doing what you love as a job." We spoke to him about the ever-evolving business of DMM Keirin and his approach to work.

■When I first joined the company, I thought I would change jobs in 2-3 years.

I originally worked as an editor for pachinko and horse racing magazines, but a client transferred to DMM and asked me to help launch a pachinko media business. That's what led me to DMM. I had originally planned to pursue a different career, but I decided to work at DMM for a while, hoping to gain some credibility. I started out as editor-in-chief of the portal site "DMM Pachi Town." I loved DMM's open-minded culture, so I stayed there for a long time and eventually became exclusively involved in the Keirin business. I think my boss assigned me to Keirin, which I felt was a natural fit for me, since I'd worked in both pachinko and horse racing. At first, I didn't know much about it, so I figured I needed to fall in love with Keirin in order to understand its strengths and weaknesses and recommend it to others. I grew to love it through my work.

■ Unique features of the DMM Keirin business

In 2008, private betting for Keirin began, and companies such as Rakuten and SoftBank entered the market one after another, and our DMM Keirin service began around 2012.
Since keirin can be purchased from home, it is one of the industries that has seen an increase in popularity due to stay-at-home demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. The site underwent a major overhaul in 2021, and is now one we can confidently recommend. It accepts cashless payment methods such as PayPay and credit card payments, and we believe it is one of the best in the industry in terms of ease of use, including the ease of betting.
One of the features of DMM Keirin is the "Rider Memo Function" which allows you to record the characteristics of approximately 2300 riders for each race. This unique function is a strength that other companies do not have. Since there are riders with similar names or the same first and last name among keirin riders, it is convenient to be able to check them together with the race list.
In the case of bicycle racing, customers move between multiple services depending on the campaigns of each company, so we are considering campaigns and announcements that are tailored to bicycle racing users in order to increase retention rates. Since fees vary depending on the payment method and have a significant impact on profits, we are also trying to increase the chargeback rate for bank payments, which have relatively low fees.

■ The appeal of Keirin is the human drama it offers

I race Keirin 365 days a year. Even if it's not a major race, I can still have fun by researching and predicting the characteristics, current form, and relationships between the seven to nine runners. This is because relationships have a strong influence on the outcome. Asada Tetsuya, famous for his mahjong-themed novels, once said, "Keirin is the king of gambling that gambling enthusiasts will eventually reach," and I've actually reached that point myself (laughs). The Midnight Race, with seven runners and the races lined up in order of race points, is easy to understand, so even beginners should enjoy it.
Last year, I collaborated with a YouTuber and rented an izakaya to hold a keirin viewing event, but recently, the number of keirin fans around me, including myself, has increased, so I would like to do more projects that will impress keirin fans. I hope that through DMM Keirin, more fans will come to love keirin itself.

■Message to university students

I have changed jobs three times myself, and we are no longer in an era where people "stay at one company forever." It has become the standard to challenge yourself with what you can do and what you want to do, and then move on to the next step. Believe that you will find a company that suits you someday, and just keep doing what you love without worrying too much.

Interviewed by Student Newspaper Online on March 11, 2024 by Sophia University freshman Sophia Ogura　

Ryusei Nishiyama, fourth-year student at Musashino University; Yoshihiko Yoshi, second-year student at Keio University Graduate School; Sophia Ogura, first-year student at Sophia University; and Miyu Ito, fourth-year student at Keio University.