Do you think the "scandal" would give badminton some "good" press about the sport?

**MeowMeowCats** · 08-02-2012, 04:59 AM

Badminton isn't popular here in the USA and this news is now everywhere. Would this let people put "badminton" and "sport" in the same sentence? Or spread some knowledge about the sport or interest?

**etudiant** · 08-02-2012, 05:20 AM

People maybe just glancing this news this week or during OG

After that I dont see why it should put badminton on the map significantly

**speedyambarish** · 08-02-2012, 05:20 AM

Good luck with that lol.
People in USA can be very adamant. Badminton will be regarded as a backyard picnic game over there as long as there isn't any significant TV coverage and professional participation. Now that all the greats of the game will soon retire, we will face a period with a bit of dull, uninspired badminton, which isn't going to further the cause.
Perhaps now that Yu Yang has pretty much ruined her chances in China, she can move over to USA and recruit some good players. Only then will badminton be regarded as an actual sport.

Right now, with the scandal and all, people will only see it as 'that game that people try to lose at'.
If you don't have to be 6 feet tall and weight 200 pounds, you're going to need something special to get people to realise it's a sport.

**etudiant** · 08-02-2012, 05:26 AM

I like the idea YY moves to USA, but will CBA approve it

**Voltric** · 08-02-2012, 08:23 AM

To make badminton popular in the USA we need to emphasize a lot of statistics, and come up with little badminton cards with those statistics together with pictures of the players so that lower and middle school kids can trade them or buy them from the local Walmart or Target. These will eventually appreciate in value over Ebay, prompting more publishers to create badminton cards of players as obscure as Ville Lang and Kenichi Tago, thus increasing their hype. Most Americans are obssessed with sports statistics, so we need to put in as much info as possible, such as Win/Loss record, number of forced and unforced errors, max. shuttle speed achieved, density of nasal hair, wing span, maximum length traveled by projectile after being ejected from the nose (Lin Dan, are you listening?), and shoe size. I hope Nike and Reebok are recording this. Go, go, go badminton!

**twobeer** · 08-02-2012, 08:30 AM

Actually, I think this can at least get some ignorant people to understand that Badminton players are in the games to get medals, not as a backyard sport where winning and loosing to them does not matter, and that they would personally sacrifice their own hopes of winning for the "olympic cause" sake. If there is a dissadvantage in winning the group for the playoffs, badmionton players will do the same thing as any NBA team, hockey-team fotball team etc would do.. And just like Bolt would dropt the tempo in the final strech of the qualifying heat the badminton players aim for the Win and THAT is the ultimate goal for them.

:-)

**chibe_K** · 08-02-2012, 09:49 AM

Originally Posted by MeowMeowCats

Badminton isn't popular here in the USA and this news is now everywhere. Would this let people put "badminton" and "sport" in the same sentence? Or spread some knowledge about the sport or interest?

Interesting that you started this thread as a few of my friends and folks at work already asked me about badminton after they learned about the scandal. This is not saying they will start to play badminton but I do think that to certain extent the scandal did generate some interest among general public to know more about badminton.

**mcdogoo** · 08-02-2012, 10:55 AM

Any press is good press.

The international coverage on badminton is unprecedented. lol

**gundamzaku** · 08-02-2012, 11:31 AM

no such thing as bad publicity!!!

**Fidget** · 08-02-2012, 01:21 PM

There is such a thing as bad publicity. If badminton is seen as a freak sport and the only press it gets is for freak scandals, then the only conclusion a casual observer can make is that it is a sport for freaks.

**khoai** · 08-02-2012, 02:00 PM

Don't under estimate the power of negative publicity. Think about these key words: Kim Kardashian, s*x tape, etc LOL

**CantSmashThis** · 08-02-2012, 02:09 PM

^ That publicity stunt got her famous.

Regarding this, I still feel that it leaves a sour taste on the sport of badminton. Not only the players for doing that, but also the organizers for making the change in the format to allow this to happen. I feel that this shows badminton players don't have the Olympic spirit at all.

**Fidget** · 08-02-2012, 02:15 PM

Originally Posted by khoai

Don't under estimate the power of negative publicity. Think about these key words: Kim Kardashian, s*x tape, etc LOL

If you want 'trailer trash' for fans, that's a fine path of publicity to follow.

For badminton, we want to attract fans with stories that are uplifting ... and I don't mean up-lifting in the sense of cosmetic buttock surgery.

**V1lau** · 08-02-2012, 03:43 PM

Just look at bike racing like the Tour De France, we had an American win it like 7 times and had a drug scandal all over the media. Still pretty much a niche sport and I don't see that changing. Especially since a good bike is well over $1000 USD, similiar to birdies being $15-$20USD a tube ... freaking expensive!

**khoai** · 08-02-2012, 03:57 PM

Originally Posted by Fidget

If you want 'trailer trash' for fans, that's a fine path of publicity to follow.

For badminton, we want to attract fans with stories that are uplifting ... and I don't mean up-lifting in the sense of cosmetic buttock surgery.

That's not what I want but a fact in the current unbelievable world. It would be a straight 'NO' 10 or 20 years ago for the op's question but now suddenly 'yes' can be an answer too.

**Fan888** · 08-02-2012, 04:21 PM

If you see the highlight (or low-light) that are showed on TV/Web, it shows 4 players standing around the court and hitting the shuttle the net and out-of-bound. They are far far from inspiring popularity to the sports.