In china,not many ppl would think badminton is a girl sport.It even regarded as one sport that would guarantee a win in the international tournaments.I gotta say,badminton in china grows so fast,n even faster than before.More n more new local brands r coming out,n support this sport.Mention AA,chaopai,kason,north pole,qiangli,dhs,eagle,hangyu,and alot more..were pushing more money into this sport.More n more tournaments in clubs,schools were held because of them. While in indonesia or in some asian countries,richer ppl tends to let their children focus on their study,rather than to sports.Their intention is to make sure their children's future.Since we all know,athletes life in indonesia or in asia,is not as good as in the western countries.Not enough money pumped into the sport.No bright future as they say. Unlike in US or in europe,when their children got picked in a draft,their parents would cry since they're happy for it,since they know,their children will be paid well. While in indo,parents will first come to the manager n ask for how much money would they pay for their children.
Badminton in the Caribbean In general, badminton is pretty much an unknown sport in the Caribbean. While at university, we had inter-campus games (sort of like a mini olymics). Badminton was not part of the list of sports because even though it is sort of known here in Jamaica, most of the other island territories have quite small groups, not enough to compete at such a level. However, many of us have been pushing for greater promotion of the sport and it is finally beginning to pay off... it is part of the competitions between halls of residence and even between various blocks on the halls. Unfortunately it falls again when it comes to competitions between tertiary institutions, only a few games for the year.
Sponsorship the key As many of us recognise, sponsorship is the key; simply put, MONEY TALKS. I must say we in Jamaica, have been blessed with a consistent sponsor in the form of a major telcoms company. They launched programmes in high schools and in the inner cities, where there tends to be a lot of idle youths. It has been very successful far as a lot of talent has been unearthed and badminton has been transformed into a largely elitist sport to become a little more known. There are even TV clips of tournament finals on our major TV channels during the sports section. Though it's not anywhere as popular track and field (we grow major stars here ) or football, at least people are not lost when you tell them you play badminton and quite a few people are desiring to learn the sport. The next step is to continue the sponsorship and also expand the location of playing facilities so that people like me don't have to travel over 100km just to play and come back home!
Thanks for the inspiring view of the sport from Jamaica. Your mention of an informal badminton league there suggests an avenue for more organized development of the sport in the US. Now that clubs are springing up in many of the major cities, maybe more inter-club competition might be a logical next step. These contests could lead to a club championship for a state or region. This would put more emphasis on badminton as a team sport and might attract sponsorship for the various teams. Any activity of this kind would help raise the profile of badminton in the public eye.
Just want to clarify that where i'm talking about is Jamaica, West Indies (the Caribbean) not Jamaica in Queens, New York
Let us help new comers to Badminton to enjoy playing/watching it . I still don't understand what money has to do with promoting Badminton ??? I thought we could double the population of Badminton players in our regions, if each of us is to introduce a new player to our beloved sport. Let us help new comers to Badminton to enjoy playing/watching it. .
Well, again. It depends on what one means by "promoting badminton". I guess your definition is to get more people playing the sport. Well, there are already a lot of people playing badminton, but yet the world's best professional players can barely make a living with it. I see "promoting badminton" is to make the sport more popular that are shown on TV with lots of money for the players and a dream for young players. Take American Football, as an example, few people outside N.A. watch football, let alone play. NFL has done a great job promoting the sport that there are tons of money in that sport.
Without money behind the sport, you won't likely see much of it on tv to enjoy. Again the best analogy is tennis: the big money tournaments are sponsored by big corporations. So far, we have big tournaments with small prizes because big business outside of Asia doesn't even know the sport exists.
Thanks much That's quite true. We have one of our larger tourney's for the year coming up and I think the top prize is under US$1000 and much less as you move down from the A division to the beginners' ranks. Even though only a handful of people choose to pursue the sport as a profession, the promotion in schools by sponsors have really been noticeable. With more businesses being involved it could definitely explode in scope.
I may be mistaken, but the prizes seem to be larger than anything in the States. Promotion of badminton in the schools must definitely be one of the best ways to advance the sport. That private business would sponsor badminton in schools is incredible. This is certainly a clear connection between money and promotion of the sport. I think we can realistically expect to see some future stars coming from Jamaica!
Can Badminton can be promoted without money? . Greetings, Of course, money is a great resource to promote Badminton and/or any other sports. But, let's not just blame it on money alone. Just look at here@Badminton Central... I wonder if kwun did ask... "If only some big companies could sponsor my forum, then I could really make it a BIG FORUM". Or, if Sir George Alan Thomas did ask... "If only I were rich, then I could start a 'Thomas Cup' competition event". Or, if Bill Gates did ask... "If only IBM supported me, then I could produce some innovative software". No... if we are really passionate about promoting Badminton, we can do it. Lack of money is not a deterrent. Cheers... chris@ccc .
I agree that it's not all about the money. The perception of badminton in N. America is often associated with being a low intensity and frankly speaking, a "wimpy" sport. Not sure how this attitude was formed but maybe it has to do with some ignorance and NA's egocentric view of things in general be it sports, business, or what have you...(?) I grew up in NA and the social stigma associated to playing the sport is definitely a good deterrent to stop but like most sports I play, I liked it and was lucky not to succumb to popularism. However, I am a sucker to basic market theories and I do believe money can make a difference (be it small or significant) in promoting the sport. More money means more facilities; more exposure to "real" badminton (vs "backyard badminton"). Higher prize money in tourney definitely cultivates superstar players. Prestige that comes with being part of a "rich" sport can also draw new participants (think "golf"). The list goes on....
Hmm..prize monies.. ..i assume kingmarioxv was referring to the 1st place prize, not the overall prize money? If so, yes, considering that it's a local tourney, i'd say that's considered a pretty good 1st place prize money and possibly more than what's been offered here in the U.S. From what i've noticed, usually in local tourneys (here in SoCal or even in NorCal, maybe kwun, or LazyBuddy in N.Y. or silentheart in Chicago, can shed a bit more on this), the total prize money usually runs no more than $4000-$5000, with a min. of $3000. Some examples: http://tournamentsoftware.com/sport/regulations.aspx?id=15508 http://tournamentsoftware.com/sport/regulations.aspx?id=18960 (both are local tourneys in the L.A. area). If one were to divvy up the total prize money with the no. of events, the highest prize money would be around $400-$500. However, in an Open type tourneys (e.g. Boston Open, upcoming BAO ($20,000) and U.S. Open), yes, the total prize money can go much higher, into the tens of thousands.
That the US Open prizes could go into six figures is encouraging. Still, the prize levels are way insufficient to support a professional player, unlike in tennis. A sport that reaches that level has truly "arrived" as part of the national scene. Otherwise it remains a fringe sport. I'm an avid chess player and the state of badminton here today reminds me a lot of chess in the US before Bobby Fischer won the crown. Afterwards, the sport gained a lot of notice and eventually there were tournaments with prize funds in the high 6 figures, thereby allowing a number of professional players (usually Russian emigres) to make a precarious living. Sadly, chess has never really caught on in the US and the center of chess activity is now in Europe and, increasingly, in Asia. There, top chess grandmasters are celebrities and treated with great respect. While I hope that badminton will get more recognition as a sport, I don't have high hopes that it will be more than a fringe sport in this country - at least not anytime soon. Why this parochial American attitude towards sports other than baseball, basketball, and football? I think the answer lies mainly in a preference for team vs individual sports - the belief that the individual is part of something greater than himself. The American attitude is populist and sports that require a lot of training or study to master or appreciate, are seen as "elitist" and unsexy because the general public understands little about the sport and won't put any effort into doing so. The media is equally ignorant or oblivious. Much of badminton's lack of exposure is the fault of badminton players themselves. Recently, the state open championships were conducted and zero mention was made of it in the local newspapers or television media. I would have enjoyed knowing more about the players, especially the men's singles champ, who played at an international level, and easily crushed his opposition. Maybe we just have "toot our own horn" more and cue the media as to the stories we really care about. An earlier observation that Roller Derby got exposure because the reporter was familiar with the sport is relevant. I think the sports media needs to be more "educated" on sports the rest of the world plays, because these same sports are increasingly being played here
enthusiast, you play chess and badminton! Me too! Those are two that I played while in high school U.S. is a very American-centric. They watch only because American players are winning. Take tennis, for example, its TV popularity is no where near its heyday, because none the top players are American. Women soccer, as another example, when the national team won the world cup, it was on TV a lot and had a woman league. Now, all gone. Now, your point of getting exposure from reporters familiar with the sport was very interesting. That got me thinking if there are any bay area reporters who might be familiar with badminton. Unfortunately, the only Asian sport reporter, Rick Quan, was let go. Anyway, I am going email the major bay area TV stations, hopefully, they will send a reporter to cover the Bay Badminton Champion this weekend. Maybe the BBC organizer already has this line up. Doesn't hurt to reinforce. I suggest all those in the Bay Area to do the same.
Great! Go for it! Hope you are successful. Next year I am certainly going to do the same up here. I totally agree with you about the media being American-centric. Most of the Olympic coverage in the past has just been about sports in which Americans do well. While I strongly support our Olympic team (with donations, too!), I sure hope it's different this year. Maybe we should begin writing now to CBS and ESPN.
Clarification Today is day 2 of that tournatment I mentioned (the Chinese Benevolent Assocation Tournament). Speaking with some of the organisers and coaches and I found that most of the prizes are in kind, not cash. For example, at the last tournament, the winner of the 'D' division got a MP99 and a racquet bag. For this tournament, seeing that it has larger sponsors, there is a cash prize to go along with gifts, though I haven't been able to find out how much yet... In terms of the media... one of our stations sometimes comes on the final day to report on who won each of the divisions. It's usually just a 30 second clip, showing about 10 seconds of action, reporting scores and a sound byte of the winner(s) saying what it was like to win. At least it puts it on the map!
