Both of the new additions to the J.League proved to be solid contenders. In fact, Bellmare would finish a close second in the second stage (the highest finish in team history). In the first half of the year, unfancied Sanfrecce Hiroshima, under the guidance of Stewart Baxter, captured the stage title by a hair, fending off a strong challenge from Shimizu S-Pulse. Hiroshima (Formerly Mazda FC) had a long history, but since they had not been one of the leading teams in the JFA, this performance came as a big surprise to powerhouses like Verdy Kawasaki and Yokohama Marinos.

However, the team self-destructed in the second half of the year, and has never since regained their form of 1994. Traditional powerhouse Verdy Kawasaki took the second stage and went on to win the championship series with two comfortable 1-0 victories in the Suntory Championship Series. The ease of victory belied the score line because Sanfrecce played a totally conservative, defensive style of football that never had a chance of producing a goal against the slick, Brazilian-style play of Verdy.

Although foreign star players had been a big attraction in the first season of J.League play, in 1994 clubs started to lay out large sums of money to attract veterans from Europe and South America that would help out fans in the seats. At this point in time, teams still were focused on the "pro baseball" model, and were trying to establish a nationwide fan base rather than to build up their grassroots support among people in the local area. Naturally, if you are competing for attention on a nationwide basis, you need to have much more high-profile players on the roster in order to win the loyalty of fans who had no other reason to support your team over any of the other "nationwide" clubs. As a result, teams spent more money than they could afford on players, hoping that there would be a "payoff" several years down the road. This "business model" would prove to be disastrous, as our discussion of the 1998 and 1999 season will describe in detail.

A few teams, however, seemed to recognise the importance of a local base, and they began appealing to fans in the nearby community, building up supporters clubs with special discounts and "giveaways" at the stadium. The Marinos, Reds, Antlers, and Jubilo seemed to be particularly adept at appealing to "local pride", and these early efforts would bear fruit several seasons later, as these teams emerged as some of the strongest franchises during the late 1990s.