how to make badminton as popular as other Olympic sports

It's a great shame that this is mainly true.

 

You must not have watched much tennis at all. The camera angles can be pretty bad when it comes to shooting at the ladies. Sometimes, the camera person has amazing reaction time(or should I say anticipation abilities). It doesn't increase the watching rate by a lot, but it does help.

Making idols... back to what I have been talking about the whole time- the "image" of the sport. eg. Between a picture of Lin Dan showing his muscles, and LCW doing the same thing... which one do you think girls would want... unless they are bolehians.

 

it's comes down to money.
when badminton or any sports has reach that 'threshold' money attraction, the chicks will come into the sport. For ex. would u say all 3 of the current top chinese WS overall (XXF, WL, WYH) are more appealing than any of the past top 3 in the national team at the same period?

 

Yonex has done it before, and apparently no effect whatsoever.
Armortec 900 power and technique... power = Lin Dan, Technique = Taufik. The only thing that came out from that was a bit more sale of the rackets before the Arc10 came out.

These days, people are hooked to a sport if(in general)

1. for male: the sport appears to be involving physical toughness(doesn't mean violence), and/or hot chicks are involved. Unless you are an old folk, then you may like golf or baseball over soccer/tennis/basketball.

2. for ladies: Good looking male athletes. If you don't believe in this, ask the "common" ladies, not the odd nerdy ones. No girls(at least the typical ones) would love Tiger Wood (even though he is the best golfer) over David Beckham or Federer.

Unfortunately for badminton, it really lacks the x-factors to make it really popular. Don't forget the "$$$" factor as well

 

Yes, those 3 are overall more appealing.

If the greatest reward in badminton comes from winning the gold medal of the Olympics, then I don't see many people would still be interested in participating in badminton.

Olympics happens every 4 years, and only 1 goal medalist(or pair) comes from each category... which means your odd of making a name or fortune for yourself is so very slim. Unless badminton can have a successful league(club) kind of system that can continuously help its athletes make a comfortable living every MONTH, or else any smart person/parent would not want themselves nor their kids to be a badminton player.

 

Hahahaha . One day costs a mint, the next not worth wiping your ar$e with. The volatility of this card would not be for the weak-hearted

 

It's all about the money. We need to get the rich countries liking badminton. USA, Europe.

 

USA is rich ROFLOL

go read the 'the sky is falling' thread and it's ain't lucy in the sky with diamonds

 

Well, in sports term they are rich and influential. Don't they have the top basketball, football, baseball and hockey league?

 

As i was saying.....

Hockey a tough sell in multicultural Toronto

TheRecord.com - News - Hockey a tough sell in multicultural Toronto

Kenyon Wallace and John Spears, Toronto Star

Hockey in Scarborough is dying, the victim of a changing population that prefers to play soccer, cricket and even badminton. (even badminton? lol)
The head of the Scarborough Hockey Association, which has ruled the sport in the area for 53 years, warned local politicians this week that organized minor hockey could be dead within two years.

In a blunt speech that was part funeral oration, part Old Testament prophecy, John Kelloway said hockey organizations have failed to attract immigrants to the game – partly because it has become too expensive and partly because of the assumption Canadian kids will always play the game.

Fifteen years ago, Kelloway's association had 10,000 players. Today there are just 2,800.

"Hockey as we have known it – neighbourhood house league programs and a vibrant Scarborough Hockey Association competitive division – will be a thing of the past ... if we don't fix it now," Kelloway said.

A nasty – and pricey – legal battle between the Scarborough Hockey Association and one of its own organizations, the West Hill Minor Hockey Association, hasn't helped.

John Berardini, president of the Agincourt Lions Hockey League (one of the SHA's seven member organizations), was forced to shut down his house league at the end of the 2008 season after enrolment declined to 125 players from more than 800 a decade ago.

He says as house leagues disappear, the association's competitive A-level teams have fewer players from which to pick their rosters.



"If we don't have a house league, we don't have a lot of kids to draw from. It makes it harder for us to have competitive hockey. We have five teams now in our league but we really need eight or nine to make it viable," he said.

When Bas Balkissoon moved to Scarborough 34 years ago, hockey was the sport of choice for the mostly white community. But since then, the MPP for Scarborough-Rouge River has watched the community's taste in sports change as new immigrants from China, South Asia and the Caribbean settled there.

"Most of them are from non-hockey-playing countries, where cricket, soccer and badminton are the kind of sports they're familiar with," said Balkissoon, who emigrated from Trinidad in 1970.

"I doubt you could do anything to make hockey a mainstream sport in the community in this area."

The cost of hockey is prohibitive, he said, noting that most immigrants can't afford to pay $1,000 every winter to put a child in a hockey program. In contrast, a summer of soccer costs as little as $100.

Hockey fanatics like Egypt native Nour Abdelwahed, 15, say lowering the cost of equipment would be the best way to lure apprehensive youngsters. The Grade 10 student at David and Mary Thomson Collegiate Institute can skate but only plays street hockey because ice hockey gear is beyond his parents' budget. He thinks more accessible and reasonably priced equipment would allow local leagues to thrive.

"It's not just too high for new immigrants, it's everybody," he said.

Scott Oakman, executive director of the Greater Toronto Hockey League, agrees with Kelloway that hockey organizations haven't done enough to work with diverse communities, such as Scarborough's Chinese community, to build the game.

Overall, Oakman said, the GTHL – an amalgam of 93 local hockey organizations – hasn't suffered a drop in players because growing cities such as Vaughan are "bursting at the seams" with players.

But organizers can't be complacent, he said. "We need to sell the game. We need to come up with new strategies on reaching out to communities that don't play hockey."

Oakman and Councillor Michael Thompson are leading a task force on the state of hockey in Scarborough that will report back to the community council next April.

 

Introduce badminton commonly at early school years.

 

you're from toronto, you're 1 of the culprit

 

it is too bad the current impression of badminton is it's an asian game, how absurd.

badminton was founded in england by an english man.
The sport was introduced to america by european immigrants, just like golf.
badminton was at one time dominated by USA and canada but they gave it up.
I rather see asians are the ones who re-introduce badminton back to them as a great sport it once was.

 

I thought the Old Edo Japan (江戸時代) had a similar game of badminton, Hanetsuki (羽根突き).


Note: You are supposed to sing the Haneuta (羽子歌 - A song that goes with Hanetsuki) as you play Hanetsuki.

 

Haha that's not a bad idea