If I may quote LIPlayer from the backyard game??? thread: In that post, sjoe clearly demonstrated the power of the "sexy" factor (whether player or equipment) Now what about role models and money... for role model, it would help soooo much if professional badminton footage was more readily available to ppl who are interested. You know more can be done when even some regulars in this forum lament about not being able to see international badminton, even on video. Taking example from Japanese animation's (anime) success, it's been a really big thing in Japan (the latest blockbuster anime topped box office records above Titanic). However until 80's, US only knew "second-hand" anime, eg. modified versions of Astro Boy, Robotech, Voltron etc. Then in the 80's, some fan companies released a few English versions of some sci-fi/cyberpunk series, and a new, albeit small, niche of audience realised anime wasn't just for kids. Fandom grew, but the availability of original anime was hard to come by, and there's the language barrier. Die-hard fans began releasing "fan-subtitles" - original anime which were painstakingly subtitled into English by fans, and were distributed on video to anyone around the world. These fansubs got around copyright issues by being non-profit, ie FREE apart from tape and shipping costs. What these fansubs acheived was to hugely boost the awareness of the variety, depth and appeal of anime in western countries, and no doubt played a major part in the bazillion anime fan sites around the web (which in turn boost its popularity). Not trying to draw a parrallel with badminton, but just wanted to share with you a case where die-hard fans could really make a difference. Please indulge your ideas...
What's Going On Here? Holy Cow, It seems the general forum has been turned into a sex discussion forum! Maybe it's just my imagination.
How about some cheerleaders on courtsides to add some spice, a la America football. Even professional wrestling is using semi-naked blonds to increase audience appeal. Sex definitely sells! To wit, the internet porn sites are some of the few profitable sites. I'd say we should have cheerleaders at all the tournaments, particularly the telecasted ones, such as TC/UC, All England, Suderman Cup etc.
Japan open 2002 had cheerleaders. Hmm, it looked.....uninspiring. Mainly because the Japanese crowd are so polite and do not make much noise. Compare to All England and Thomas/Uber Cup.
the absolutely LAST thing i want to see is for badminton to resemble in any way professional wrestling, which IMHO is the lowest form of entertainment.
Yeah, same here. Professional Wrestling = Male Soap Opera Soap Opera = Boring Real wrestling such as Greco-Roman, etc., are respectable, but not "Pro Wrestling." Phil
All joking aside, if one sits down and think about the popularity of badminton: it is played in Asia, which includes China (both PRC & Taiwan), India and Indonesia (the world's most, 2nd & 4th populous countries), Russia and Europe. Obviously, there is no lack of interest in the sport worldwide. What is lacking is solid financial backing. It would require strong leadership to unite the badminton world and to promote the sport. The promotion should be at different levels. It should be at the grass root level to young people, at the corporate level for financing, and at the media level to widen the coverage. The effort has to be sustained in order to be successful. Once the critical mass has been achieved, one should then be able to see a financially sustainable sport.
Re: Re: Role models, money and sex appeal Yep! LIPlayer has mentioned several good points (in the "backyard" thread). I tried telling some friends who plays socially but never saw top level badminton, to catch some tournament action that happened to be running just before their usual play time, and they got to see some Grade A play. They were impressed indeed, and I'm sure inspired My suggestion above was about role models - helping ppl to see top badminton action, so they can actually CHOOSE role model(s). How can one choose if one never sees? Sharing videos/vcds would be a great way (vcds especially, bcos it lasts longer and can be viewed frame by frame - everyone here has a computer rite?). We just need ppl who have the resources to be willing to share them. Put up a website, or trade/share at a central website *wink wink* About money, it's true that badminton can always do with more. But I think there's still enough money to go around to do a lot of good - ppl just need to invest more wisely. cooler was saying how Canadian badminton is "investing" in a 40yo player, there's some money right there that can be put to better use. Don't have to just be juniors... even promoting badminton generally, eg. those Roadshows for Yonex-Sunrise Singapore Open looks just great! Or free badminton games for ppl to try. etc etc. But these things will need creative ppl who are super-enthusiastic to join a club/state/national committee.
PS... AKFT made a good point about "uniting the badminton world" at all levels. This can be as simple as to you all experienced players out there, next time you walk past a court seeing some beginners trying very hard to play badminton, give them a simple tip, like how to grip, or to extend their arm abit more. The purpose is not so much to coach, but to make them feel like they belong - like saying "make yourselves at home". Bcos whether you feel it or not, but experienced players can appear rather intimidating/awe-inspiring/revered by beginners, and though they dont say it but for that moment, YOU are the role model. If you appear friendly, then they will see badminton as being friendly. kwun, it would be interesting to hear how your girlfriend got so involved in badminton, to go from "what's badminton?" to "kwuuuuuun~~ can we go play again pretty pleeeeease~~" ... or something like that, ehe... (sorry if I offended anyone ) Anyway, I think we can learn a lot from that.
I did not have time to elaborate, but I shall try to explain myself a little better. I'll take the recent TC/UC to illustrate what I am trying to say. The TC/UC tournament is one of the premiere events in badminton. All the stars are there. The best countries in the sport get to participate. The matches are exciting. The competition is fierce and passionate. It certainly is badminton at its best. However, when I viewed the video tape (off the air, not home video) of the finals between Malaysia and Indonesia, several things struck me. First of all, the sound effects were terrible. The "whack" sound of the racket hitting the bird is a main part of badminton. (That's why one of the criteria in Yonex's evaluation of their strings is the "sound") So to me that sound should be highlighted, just like F1 racing engine sounds and the whack sound in golf. Unfortunately, that addicting "whack" was completely drowned out by the crowd noise in the tape. Furthermore, the commentators were barely audible, again due to crowd noise. That is poor sound engineering. Secondly, there were limited numbers of camera angles. Different angles will be able to bring the game closer to the audiance. Thirdly, instant replay was totally indequate to slow down the plays for analysis by the commentators. If ones objective is to popularize the sport, I believe it is important to educate the general public. To broadcast the games at a level that would enable even a layman to understand what was going on. Otherwise someone who doesn't understand the game will feel lost and move on to watch something else. Last but not least, the commentary and analysis of the games could improve to bring in an expert's angle. In other words, even though the content of the product is first rate, the pakaging of that product left a lot to be desired. If we want the major media to cover these games, we must present a superior product that would not only interest the fanatics, but also appeal to the general public in order to generate more interest in the game and thus more sponsorship. I apologize if I appear to be rambling.
AKFT, those are very good points! Perhaps you might be interested in submitting that to the IBF? It seems like their major priority at the moment is to make badminton TV-friendly, and the points you mentioned above sound infinitely better and more practical than anything IBF (and recently ABC *shivers*) had proposed. Has anyone contacted IBF before, who might know how to go about this?
