TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Sumo tickets have sold out for all 15 days at each of the six grand tournaments this year, including the upcoming meet in Fukuoka, the Japan Sumo Association said Saturday.

In a sign of rejuvenated popularity, it is the first year-round sell-out since 1996, when the sport received a massive boost from brothers Wakanohana and Takanohana.

The ancient sport had struggled following a series of scandals, including a match-fixing issue that emerged in 2011, but attendance came back to life, with around 80 percent of seats filled on competition days between 2017 and 2019.

The Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament, the last meet of 2024, begins on Nov. 10, with much attention paid to new ozeki Onosato.

In September, Onosato won his second top-division title in three tournaments and was promoted to the second-highest rank at a record pace of nine professional meets.