Just to share some views and overcome my little boredom right now :) -

I personally love playing badminton a lot. However, I almost never watch it on TV. I sometimes would watch people play live (i.e. not on TV but actually watch them in person). So, how bout you all? Do you enjoy watching as much as playing (or at least more than I do?)

For comparison purposes, games like soccer, basketball, tennis, volleyball in general are both fun to watch and play. But badminton, well, most of the people I know who play would not watch it on TV like me.

I'm guessing the reasons could be:
- hard to spot shuttle on the TV screen
- game is too fast
- the game unfortunately is not well loved by people all over the world

Discussions similar to this may have already been posted before, but anyways, what do you all think? Is badminton just not a TV viewing sport? Also, what can be done to promote this wonderful game more?

funny thing is that IBF is asking these same questions too.

i can see the shuttle fine.. wtf are ppl complaining about this for.. u cna't see it then go get glasses cuz your vision is poor.

to fast ?... i like it fast !


tennis is a great and a very dramatic sport and nobody watches that either.. when a grand slam like the us open is on tv i generally watch from 9 - 13 hours a day of it .. provided i'm not working or in school.. i am always impressed by the level of skill and drama that pro tennis displays in major tournaments.... but the sport is very unpopular in north america as far as a spectator sport. and unlike badminton, Tennis in North America gets lots of coverage.. and still nobody watches it. I imagine it is slowly getting more popular.. but compared to baseball or basketball or football it has a long way to go.


there is nothing wrong w/badminton or tennis but many people who are impatient or ignorant will not be willing to sit down and relax for an hour to watch them.

as far as i'm concerned .. if you don't like it.. don't watch it .. but do Not change our sports for the sake of the people who do not appreciate them!

I just purchase or ask people to hook it up with tournament tapes..it's bad ass I tell you...so it's all good.

Yes agreed. Badminton TV coverage in UK is very very bad. I was surprised to learn that AE2006 was actually being televised on Sky. Happily enough, I went to Birmingham to see the actual event and ... what a rush! But I would be more than happy to watch it on TV as well.

Anybody know if the BBC in the UK will show (as they always did over the past years) an hours worth of action from this years AE? I don't have Sky :crying:

Interesting concept, the whole idea of playing vs watching.

I have many friends who are die-hard badminton players but hate watching it in a crowd at a tournament or on television and therefore I don't think it really tells much of a story. I am the type that loves to watch it and try my best to play it to the highest level I can. I would argue against anyone that can deny just how good the best badminton can be to watch as a sport!

Some problems I have encountered in having the patience to watch it on the box include really crap angles from the camera at certain tournaments. An example of this (and something that annoyed me so much I wrote to the IBF to rip them about it :mad: ) was the coverage of the World Championships just passed in the USA (August '05). The angles for which the viewer was subjected to did nothing for our sport!

As players we understand what is happening on the court with movement, racket skill and shuttle speeds etc but for any random person considering watching it on the tv would have struggled to give a rats ass. It was a great in-justice. :confused:

On the other hand, the coverage and angles of the cameras at the Yonex All England Championships (mainly covered by Sky Sports in the UK from Friday to Sunday LIVE) is nothing short of perfect. The dynamics of the game are captured totally and make it an utter joy to behold.

I am not one for dismissing other sports and to say that badminton is better to watch in its peak than anything else because they all have their own exciting moments. Take the cricket for example (and it hurts to say this as a Scot who does not really like the sport ;) ) I was totally engrossed by the Ashes last summer and of course few things can beat the last ten minutes of a huge football game when the score is 1-1 but for sustained excitment badminton can win hands down.

The better the coverage quality and camera angles the most positive these things can become. I know I sound like a geek talking about camera angles but you know it makes sense when you think about it...don't you all !! :cool:

most of these points, if not all have been discussed in other threads because of the new scoring system - on of IBF's claims is that the new system will bring more TV coverage. check out discussions on the new scoring system - we also took up the camera angles. top view does make game play seem slower than camera views from the side and almost all angles on TV are from the top hence many people who don't understand the sport think it's 'boring'.

Wow,

5 years past between the start of this thread and the last few replies.....

;) Interesting concept, the whole idea of playing vs watching.

I have many friends who are die-hard badminton players but hate watching it in a crowd at a tournament or on television and therefore I don't think it really tells much of a story. I am the type that loves to watch it and try my best to play it to the highest level I can. I would argue against anyone that can deny just how good the best badminton can be to watch as a sport!

Some problems I have encountered in having the patience to watch it on the box include really crap angles from the camera at certain tournaments. An example of this (and something that annoyed me so much I wrote to the IBF to rip them about it :mad: ) was the coverage of the World Championships just passed in the USA (August '05). The angles for which the viewer was subjected to did nothing for our sport!

As players we understand what is happening on the court with movement, racket skill and shuttle speeds etc but for any random person considering watching it on the tv would have struggled to give a rats ass. It was a great in-justice. :confused:

On the other hand, the coverage and angles of the cameras at the Yonex All England Championships (mainly covered by Sky Sports in the UK from Friday to Sunday LIVE) is nothing short of perfect. The dynamics of the game are captured totally and make it an utter joy to behold.

I am not one for dismissing other sports and to say that badminton is better to watch in its peak than anything else because they all have their own exciting moments. Take the cricket for example (and it hurts to say this as a Scot who does not really like the sport ;) ) I was totally engrossed by the Ashes last summer and of course few things can beat the last ten minutes of a huge football game when the score is 1-1 but for sustained excitment badminton can win hands down.

The better the coverage quality and camera angles the most positive these things can become. I know I sound like a geek talking about camera angles but you know it makes sense when you think about it...don't you all !! :cool:

You are absolutly correct....dead on about the tv camera angles...people will watch the game that they play or have played before wheather it be Tennis, Football or Badminton.....

I have played Tennis for 20yrs and now I am a devoted Badminton player....Watching tennis on TV is easier to follow because the cameras are positioned correctly to give the best view and feel of the action....Tennis has the big money from U.S. and Badminton is just a step-child....Better coverage would bring more money and viewers ! I love to watch any matches that I can because even with the poor coverage I can still pick out footwork and positioning to learn more about the game...

I remember when Fox used to broadcast the NHL, they used a special puck with sensors inside so that they could enhance the appearance of the puck by making it glow!

I wonder whether this would be possible for badminton..

I remember when Fox used to broadcast the NHL, they used a special puck with sensors inside so that they could enhance the appearance of the puck by making it glow!

I wonder whether this would be possible for badminton..
i dun think so.
the device weighs a few gram and wont affect a puck performance but it will surely affect a shuttlecock performance

viewing the bird isnt a poblem if its comming from the right angle..

if it was too had to see mightaswell just use a coloured feather bird :)

viewing the bird isnt a poblem if its comming from the right angle..

if it was too had to see mightaswell just use a coloured feather bird :)

So whats wrong with a colored bird?:rolleyes:

Tennis balls were white before they started using the lime green balls and there were also orange balls in use. They started out as experiment for playing at nite.
Badminton is simply behind the times by not having a colored shuttlecock.
On many occassions i use a majic marker to blacken the ball of the shuttle and also put black lines on the stem of the feathers when we are playing in places that have lite colored walls as a background. I would love to have some colored shuttles.

It was a mistake as regular fans don't follow the puck when watching hockey games. It's all about players' positions and game plays. FOX had it wrong.Same thing with baddy, only the players should be concern about the shuttle. Audience should watch for things other than trying to follow the almighty birdie:p. I remember when Fox used to broadcast the NHL, they used a special puck with sensors inside so that they could enhance the appearance of the puck by making it glow!

I wonder whether this would be possible for badminton..

Before you flame me, I am a North American.

Is it just me, but do North Americans love phyical contact/violence. Canadians love their hockey (GO SENS GO), with all the checks, fights, and violence that accompanies that sport. Americans love their football, with its obvious violence. Even baseball has its violent moments. NASCAR has violent crashes. Basketball, also has its violent moments, with the fan vs player fights last year, with the eye poking incident a couple weeks ago. Anyways, no none violent sport really is that big here.

Is this one of the reasons we (as in North Americans) don't like badminton?

Personally I find it very exciting when a badminton match has some trash talking between opponents, it brings a new level of excitement to the match, particularly when someone gets a hard smash off the head or something like that (better wear your safety glasses!) Even more interesting is when two partners get into each other's way, creating a confrontation within the partnership as well as outside.

Too bad games rarely erupt into fisticuffs. That would make it totally awesome.

Before you flame me, I am a North American.

Is it just me, but do North Americans love phyical contact/violence. Canadians love their hockey (GO SENS GO), with all the checks, fights, and violence that accompanies that sport. Americans love their football, with its obvious violence. Even baseball has its violent moments. NASCAR has violent crashes. Basketball, also has its violent moments, with the fan vs player fights last year, with the eye poking incident a couple weeks ago. Anyways, no none violent sport really is that big here.

Is this one of the reasons we (as in North Americans) don't like badminton?