just realize because we have many categories in comparison to tennis....tennis pros gets good prize money BECAUSE...their popular hit games with the public masses is only for SINGLES.....(thus the prizes are more concentrated) while we badminton fans have the whole smorgasborg of doubles,mix doubles. Not that we fanatics are complaining.... :)

also with bigger and better prizes even more people might be encouraged to join the sport and take it seriously as well as higher prestige than before.

and come to think of it...badminton players are more "conservative" in comparison to tennis players...we need the girls to wear even more ah...."interesting" designs like the tennis women....even way before chris evert is known for her *** appeal at the courts and off the courts even for non tennis players,audiences/public...some publicity photo of her can make folkes look at the sport..like in popular magazine covers not necesarrily tennis specific ones. maybe IBF can make some of these "well placed" photos in covers around as well as more interviews in tv and mass media..that might get more sponsors attention.

Need to make our sport a "cool" one to the popular masses.....

maybe get some "fake" professional players like anna kournikova....who is such a popular hit with the masses despite never winning anything....lol

All i gotta say is that to me i think tennis is popular in North America and Europe and right now badminton is just starting to evolve majorly in NA

One of the major issue is that badminton needs more courts available to gain popularity. There are estimated 150,000 tennis courts in USA. Badminton.. there are no official stats for US or Canada but I would guess not even 1% of tennis.

I'm 95% certain there are more badminton courts than tennis courts in Toronto. Not just a little more either... most likely a lot more.

http://www.isopixel.net/images/maria.sharapova.jpg

that why :P

no i think it's, like everything in this world, related to the !!! money !!! and the people with the money prefer the tennis and i can't blame them caus i like tennis too maybe a little bit less than badminton but it's a good second choise

depends on where and how you look at it....

i believe in China, badminton is definitely much more popular than tennis, for the time being at least...
whereas in most parts of asia, badminton is also way popular in some sense...

i don't agree that there's more tennis courts or what... coz one tennis court could equate to one-and-a-half badminton court, and many indoor halls could be converted to badminton courts anytime, so there's a possibility that there's just as many badminton courts too.

look at the prize money able to be offered by the sponsors. and see the number of sponsors. and see the kind of monopoly that yonex has, which is no good for the sport (badminton). whereas in tennis there's Prince, Head, Babolat, Dunlop, Yonex, Wilson to fight out for the market share, and therefore attracting more interest from other non-sports related sponsors. who would have the interest to invest in badminton competitions in which the sport is almost synon

look at the dominance of the Chinese players. it's not helping the popularity of the sport. look at tennis. we have a wide range of nationalities who are capable of ousting one another. australians, americans, british, russians who are able to give one another a run for their money. how about badminton? it's getting predictable, boring, uninteresting, and in the minds of the extremists: 'waddahell are the caucasians doing? let's give it a miss.'

the clothing. kournikova and sharapova and the williams sister (though rather distasteful). need i say more?

i remembered/noticed Mette Schjoldager in the MXD worn kinda thin in the Chinese Open last year..and predictably and understandably realize the chinese opponent will lose due to the distraction....lol...maybe the stadium is too cold...but i still salute her tactic in the chinese homeground....even the camera focused a lot on it..... :)

i hope badminton clothings will get thinner man.. woohoo.. im sure it'll look very attractive.

look at the dominance of the Chinese players. it's not helping the popularity of the sport. look at tennis. we have a wide range of nationalities who are capable of ousting one another. australians, americans, british, russians who are able to give one another a run for their money. how about badminton? it's getting predictable, boring, uninteresting, and in the minds of the extremists: 'waddahell are the caucasians doing? let's give it a miss.'
and how would you suggest a way to overcome this problem?

i think it all boxes down to cash. and because of that, tennis has gotten toomuch of a headstart, it's making it difficult for badminton to compete and become a favourite with audience (in the west).

'improving' on the clothing won't be helping too much. if one were to do a poll, targeting on the average erupeaon/us citizen -who are not badminton lovers, one would probably find that tennis is still of greater preference to badminton even if players were to wear more flesh-revealing outfits.

Yes, I agree that money, and higher prize money, is the strongest motivating factor for most professionals, because their livelihood depends on it. The is why Tennis is way ahead of Badminton in attracting a more diverse group of people and the tournaments are perhaps more competitive.

With the cost of living going up annually in most developed and developing countries just by sheer inflation alone, prize monies for badminton should also take this into account and should be raised on a incremental basis at least. To think that the world's most prestigious badminton tournament, the AE, is still less than a 5-star event gives the impression that badminton is backward and does not deserve support from both corporations and individuals alike, including would-be players. You can't stop people from comparing Badminton to Tennis and forming a conclusion that Tennis is definitely better.

The organizers and those who are in charge should work harder to attract sponsors who are willing to donate more. But then commercial giants like Nike, Prince and even Yonex, need to know their bottom-line. They are profit-oriented organizations unlike the IBF and its members worldwide, although we know that they do share a lot of the TV money for gigantic events like the Olympics, World Cup (esp for football), Thomas Cup, etc.
It is always a chicken-and-egg situation, more prize-money attracts more and better players while more players who can popularize the game attract more sponsors. But it will always be good that the badminton scene be not dominated by one or a few sponsors only. The success of marketing badminton will translate into more commercial houses competiting for the right to sponsor certain events.

Despite the fact that a Tennis court is equivalent to about the size of three badminton courts, more tennis courts are being built. But of course, unlike most open courts for Tennis, badminton courts have to be indoors and therefore they are more expensive to construct and many have to be shared with other indoor games in multi-purpose halls.

Actualy, the IBF has come a long way. Many experiments (some good, some bad) and improvements have been made particularly during the last few years and now badminton is played in more countries. The change in the format for both the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup ensures greater participation, at least at the earlier stages. The five training centres to be located in as many continents, with one already in operation in Germany, one in Malaysia, the new IBF headquarters, (which already has excellent facilities) and one to be located in the US (California, I think), which most will agree is a very important step to spread badminton to the Americans, all with the purpose of popularising the game to the far-flung corners of the earth and make giant sponsors alert to the opportunities of supporting the badminton game. :D

As all ready stated, money is the key. And to gain that money the badminton world must be more public. More and better broadcasting, the initiative (although with some difficulties) by Swiss Open to offer streaming online is excellent. What I don't get is that IBF (and BAOFE) can't get any channel which covers the whole Europe to broadcast AE. It's as if Super Bowl, Wimbledon or Tour de France wouldn't be shown on TV.

"Interesting outfits", hmmm, I won't protest if it is allowed but wouldn't care less if they played in string. Still prefer the good ol' XXX video..... However to make such dresses compulsory (like in volleyball) is non of IBF bussines. Let the girls (and boys) dress in what they like.

It's not like the product is bad, it is the marketing which suffers.

Yes, I agree with what all those in this thread have been saying. Money is what will make badminton more attracting. I agree to do that badminton needs to reach out more to the public, as stated, by broadcasting matches more and releasing more attractive ads. I think in places like California and the New York/New Jersey area where I used to live, badminton is pretty popular, maybe not compared to other sports but better than other parts of the US. For example, in Florida there are not many clubs to play at and unlike other states our schools do not have badminton teams, people know what badminton is but they really don't feel like getting into it other than at picnics and such.

in the philippines......tennis is literally dying....the popular courts are almost empty..play with lots of ex tennis fanatics...some tennis coaches has become badminton coaches...one of them told me he cant get new clients for tennis anymore... :)

another funny thing...adidas is quite a popular shoe for our local badminton players...i hope adidas notice their increase in sales past 2 years is due to one specific sport and maybe promote or sponsor actively in our sport...i think the country manager is not even aware of it why....

and releasing more attractive ads. ADS! YES! i remember my first time seeing the ad announcing denmark open tournament last year. i was literally swelling with happiness (and pride -the montage showed those jumps and smashes), because people would start noticing and hopefully pay some attention.

one more thing about the us.....
california and new jersey dont suffer from this problem like many other states do:
OBESITY(write spelling? sry not sure XD)
notice that badminton requires alot of fitness. after watching certain movies that will not be named, it is said that the us is the fattest country in the world. u dont rly expect overweight people to play a sport as fast-paced as badminton. i've been to cali/jersey a couple times and it aint as bad as places such as texas *no offense to people in other states*.
a minor point to add...but still a point to keep in mind next to money and marketing.
some people just dont recognize the amount of skill required to play the sport. however, in high skool, i was playing in my PE class fooling around with my shots. u have to make the sport look interesting to young people because they're gonna be the future. play with those huge "POK" sounds that make the game seem appealing to new players. also make it look like ur doing it effortlessly :p. just a suggestion...

one more thing about the us.....
california and new jersey dont suffer from this problem like many other states do:
OBESITY(write spelling? sry not sure XD)
notice that badminton requires alot of fitness. after watching certain movies that will not be named, it is said that the us is the fattest country in the world. u dont rly expect overweight people to play a sport as fast-paced as badminton. i've been to cali/jersey a couple times and it aint as bad as places such as texas *no offense to people in other states*.
a minor point to add...but still a point to keep in mind next to money and marketing.
some people just dont recognize the amount of skill required to play the sport. however, in high skool, i was playing in my PE class fooling around with my shots. u have to make the sport look interesting to young people because they're gonna be the future. play with those huge "POK" sounds that make the game seem appealing to new players. also make it look like ur doing it effortlessly :p. just a suggestion...
Nice suggestion wing-omega5-0;) When I made the transition for Jersey to Florida, I have to admit I was surprised by the difference between the majority of people's mass in Florida compared to Jersey:D( more obese here). (Yes, you spelled obesity right;) )

I complety agree with this-"some people just dont recognize the amount of skill required to play the sport", I find that almost anyone that doesn't play badminton does not realize the skill needed:mad:. When I play badminton amongst people not familiar to the sport, I will "advertise" by doing what you suggested the best I can:)

I complety agree with this-"some people just dont recognize the amount of skill required to play the sport", I find that almost anyone that doesn't play badminton does not realize the skill needed:mad:. When I play badminton amongst people not familiar to the sport, I will "advertise" by doing what you suggested the best I can:)
works best on high skool jocks. i do "that" in PE class all the time with basketball players watching they're all like omg how the heck do u do that? when they start laughing at u, hand them a crappy racket and ask them to make the "POK" sound.

I love it when people don't even consider badminton a sport (my experience from high school). In my opinion, it is as much or even more of a rigorous sport than football, basketball, soccer, etc. Seriously, I don't understand why badminton is looked down upon so much, especially when there are games such as baseball, where the amount of physical activity required is almost zero (you can watch people sit on the bench and make angry faces, ok). There are periods of intense action, maybe five seconds max, where some guy jumps to make a catch. Otherwise, baseball is very boring to watch. Heck, even football, basketball, soccer, and golf are boring to watch sometimes. On the other hand, badminton is a very intense sport that is very spectator friendly. Why it is not receiving deserved respect: I don't know.

The problem may lie in the fact that the court seems so small on TV that you've pretty much seen every single shot possible after watching one game. However, there are many nice rallies in games that are not "stock" plays.

I believe that with time, badminton will become more popular. Not only does it need more broadcast time but also needs more white players. The badminton at my high school has always been at least 50% asian, so other people are discouraged from joining because it is like an asian club instead of a sport. I really think that badminton will become more popular at the high school level and will develop from there since many people who play in high school continue to do so later in life.

and how would you suggest a way to overcome this problem?

i think it all boxes down to cash. and because of that, tennis has gotten toomuch of a headstart, it's making it difficult for badminton to compete and become a favourite with audience (in the west).

'improving' on the clothing won't be helping too much. if one were to do a poll, targeting on the average erupeaon/us citizen -who are not badminton lovers, one would probably find that tennis is still of greater preference to badminton even if players were to wear more flesh-revealing outfits.

in singapore too, badminton though is a widely-promoted and popular sport, but after the schooling days are over, people hardly pursue this interest anymore. partly because we have to book courts and they can be rather expensive during the weekends, and whereas for the extremely-popular (this an understatement) soccer, it's easier to find buddies or any dudes from the neighbourhood as long as u have an empty patch of field (which is easy to find) and u just practically need a ball only to start playing. what i'm trying to say is that no matter how potentially popular a sport can get, it eventually boils down to the grassroots and the sustained passion.

and seriously speaking, improve the clothing won't help much. because tennis is an outdoor sports, so it justify for rather skimpy clothing and it's in a different league from badminton therefore. tennis has been really successful and popular by introducing changes to the clothing, with all the sponsors all too happy to come up with new designs to suit different athletes of different build and size. in badminton? all yonexes and occasionally gosen. in soccer, the scene is also more encouraging... we have mizuno, adidas, diadora, nike, reebok, all fighting to sponsor a team.

there's problem with the professional soccer league in singapore also. though there's many avid recreational players, there's hardly a stable number of die-hard fans for their respective soccer club in their residence. the thing is that the soccer federation has all sort of grand ideas, but they forgot that they must get the masses going to the stadiums. we know which team is supposed to represent the area of residence that we are supposed to show our loyalty, but there's hardly any effort made to make us endear to our respective team. we don't feel any connection to it. and the standard of the soccer teams are unpredictable, to say the least. and the quality gap is extreme and standard of playing fluctuate. similarly, badminton may be popular in singapore, but do we feel the urge to support the national team, and helping the badminton federation in any manner to improve the standard? actually no, we do watch badminton games, but we aren't really those super die-hard fans. it's something like soccer fans support EPL teams such as chelsea and man utd, whereas badminton fans support Peter Gade or Bao or Lin Dan.

there's nothing much IBF can do. it may change the court size, change the scoring system, change the clothing (is there a real need? and there's so many deep lunges for ladies players that they run the risk of unwanted over-exposure of torso), attract more sponsors, but the problem really lies in the almost-domination of the chinese players. we must break the stranglehold of the chinese domination for the good of the sport. one thing to do is to really get involved in the grassroots of the community. send some representative to the area and promote the sports for at least some weeks to create more awareness and unwavering support. make sure that more courts are built, and they can actually co-exist with other similar indoor courts such as handball courts or netballs, by just drawing out the lines clearly. and also making sure that the badminton courts or courts are properly maintained. no one would want to play in a court with slippery flooring or inadequate lighting. to get the whole population going, one must really see what can be done to spur the kids and working adults alike. and also promoting their own players, who may hail from different states, such as Florida or Washington.

meanwhile, i'm not disagreeing with the talent-import scheme, as in the long run it may helps to promote the sport in that particular country. but to allow the chinese players to really integrate into an alien society and be accept by their new homeland, it's wholly another matter. we'll see what long-term gains Yao Jie and Pi Hongyan will bring to their fellow adopted countries. but countries should not be importing so-called talents blindly just for the sake of short-term achievements.

meanwhile, i'm not disagreeing with the talent-import scheme, as in the long run it may helps to promote the sport in that particular country. but to allow the chinese players to really integrate into an alien society and be accept by their new homeland, it's wholly another matter. we'll see what long-term gains Yao Jie and Pi Hongyan will bring to their fellow adopted countries. but countries should not be importing so-called talents blindly just for the sake of short-term achievements.
I have not qualms with the other statements, but IMHO imports of talent does have a significant positive impact. Since Mia joined the Netherlands National squad, her team members have both jumped up in ranking (about 10 places...not sure). That can't neither be coincidence nor myopic shortermism.
jl

Lack of good commentators/presenters. Cars going round in circles or 22 men chasing after a ball seems exciting with good enough commentators.

I agree with you, There is no comptition on badminton racquet manufacture , since 85 % of market money went to Yonex , What do you think other Badminton manufacture have enought money to pay for the event?:crying: , If you own 85% of market do you wnatto sepnd the money? you already know you own it?:mad:

I like to give u guys a reflective view point.

Badminton is a modified game from india/china/greek(depend how far u go back). It was then brought back to england and played at a lawn party held by Duke of Beaufort at his country place, Badminton, in 1873, and it became known as "the Badminton game" among various guests who introduced it to other friends. Badminton was played by the rich people.

Fast forwarding a bit, american players were among the world's best until the late 1960s. Perhaps the greatest of all was Judy Devlin Hashman, a native of Manitoba. She won more than 50 major championships from 1954 through 1967, including 12 U. S. national titles and 10 All-England championships
Again it show badminton isn't a poor man sport.

Fast forwarding a bit more, badminton is the #1 sport for the richest man in the world(sultan of brunei, u should see his badminton courts) and some famous royalties like many saudi princes & prince andrew are some i can recall. And recently, we hear that jet li, jackie chan, paul newton, etc play badminton.

yes, tennis has higher prizes but players behind badminton are very rich too and they didnt got rich from playing badminton either. They play it becoz they prefer badminton :)

I like to give u guys a reflective view point.

Badminton is a modified game from india/china/greek(depend how far u go back). It was then brought back to england and played at a lawn party held by Duke of Beaufort at his country place, Badminton, in 1873, and it became known as "the Badminton game" among various guests who introduced it to other friends. Badminton was played by the rich people.

Fast forwarding a bit, american players were among the world's best until the late 1960s. Perhaps the greatest of all was Judy Devlin Hashman, a native of Manitoba. She won more than 50 major championships from 1954 through 1967, including 12 U. S. national titles and 10 All-England championships
Again it show badminton isn't a poor man sport.

Fast forwarding a bit more, badminton is the #1 sport for the richest man in the world(sultan of brunei, u should see his badminton courts) and some famous royalties like many saudi princes & prince andrew are some i can recall. And recently, we hear that jet li, jackie chan, paul newton, etc play badminton.

yes, tennis has higher prizes but players behind badminton are very rich too and they didnt got rich from playing badminton either. They play it becoz they prefer badminton :)

i have absolutely no idea where u get ur information XD but i support that.