Tennis is a personality-driven sport and you've got colorful characters like Safin, Nadal, Federer, the Williams Sisters and Sharapova who raise interest in the game. Sad to say but badminton players just aren't as diverse as tennis players because the champions all hail from the same countries. Plus, you've also got the *** Factor because a lot of tennis players are ridiculously good-looking and easy on the eyes whilst badminton players aren't as hot. Tennis derives most of its revenues from television and they've got tons of money poured into the sport from diverse sponsors like FedEx, AmEx, Garnier, L'Oreal, Rolex, Mercedes Benz and others. Badminton doesn't know how to market itself enough to attract non-badminton specific sponsors.
Your points are well taken, however, the sport seems to be catching on in E. Europe, esp. with the establishment of the IBF training ceners. Badminton has it's share of personalities, too (Hidayat, Dan, Gade, Jonassen, Xie XF, etc.. It's just that many of them don't speak English, a big marketing disadvantage. Also the sport needs more "badboys" and juicy scandal. That we don't hear more about players' lives off the court is possibly due to the fact that at the international level, the sport is viewed more as a team and not an individual sport. The athletes compete for their country, rather than huge purses. That would certainly change when bigger prizes are offered in the future.
ur explanation is too one dimensional. Golf for example, doesn't have great looking players nor with whacky personality but golf is equally if not more popular than tennis. Top golfers earn way more $$ than top tennis pros. secondly, money come first, then the good looking players not the other way around. I doubt good looking teens growing all wanted to be tennis players. Modelling makes just as much with less work.
You're missing the point. Golf is a personality-driven sport as well, everybody knows who Tiger Woods, Nick Faldo, Greg Norman and Phil Mickelson are. You'd be hard-pressed to find people who can name five badminton players off the top of their heads in the mainstream while tennis and golf have people who transcend the sport in terms of name recognition. Second, I'm not saying that good-looking people all want to be tennis players, I'm saying that it certainly helps tennis gain a wider base because of the attractiveness of its players. Tons of people who can't tell the difference between a slice and a lob tune in to watch tennis just to see a glimpse of Maria Sharapova in a short skirt. The WTA and the ATP know this and they actively use their bombshells to promote the popularity of the sport. The ATP and the WTA also have people in charge who come from marketing backgrounds. Etienne DeVilliers used to work for Disney and prior to that, McKenzie. He knows what he needs to do to promote the sport in a larger context. Same goes for Larry Scott. Maybe badminton needs people in charge who aren't so myopic in their focus.
golf and tennis are however, more popular sports among the corporate guns. any ambitious employee would love to have an afternoon of either with their bosses. that is also the reason why golf doesn't need such good-looking people. it attracts people through "social standing" and "luxury".
Agee with this............we need more characters...so far baminton is viewed as more family or team event...as long as its the players have no freedom to register themselves ( mostly in Asia,)...then it is hard to make badminton into mainstream sport...
you said Tennis is a personality-driven sport and you've got colorful characters like Safin, Nadal, Federer, the Williams Sisters and Sharapova who raise interest in the game are tiger wood, nadal, federer, williams sisters, sharapova colorful characters without tennis and golf?? they are somebody because of tennis/golf, they are nobody without tennis and golf
u explained nothing.... yes, golf and tennis are popular because of it's a rich man sport.. but pw2002 says it's because of players personality. question now is, why golf and tennis is for the rich? I can find you 1,000,000 beggars, pimps, theives, killers with special personality and characters I can also name u 100 billionares who are not pros in tennis nor golf. How come they are not popular?
LoL. I never knew that tennis is only for those wealthy people.. I do know that tennis pro's have a huge pay check. Badminton just has this feel that says it is a slow pace game. Those who never watch or play competitive badminton wont know how fast it actually is. Some of my friends think that it is just a game of getting the shuttle to touch the floor. Cooler, if I am not mistaken.. there are no 100 billionaires in the world. Only as much as 70+. =D
they are popular to play because they are "rich". people play when they watch something and like it. people watch tennis because of the players. golf and tennis are considered to some extent, "high class".
nope...kubuk...u are wrong...there are thousands of billionaires in this earth..even in malaysia we have more than 2...china,america,russia, england and japan have the most billionaires...
btw i think pw2002 is trying to say that federer,nadal,sharapova etc make tennis the way it is. tennis players shape the outlook their game gives its audiences. that is why people like tennis, because of the players in it. badminton on the other hand, apart from being dominated by asian players, does not have the "appeal".
oh...zimbabwei(am i spell right???) have more...they have a billion dollar cash in just one piece of money(sorry...my english not good)...so pity those people there...drink a coffee need to bring a bag of money...counting money after finish drinking(pay bills) need more than 1 hour to finish if u bring one dollar cash...
that is assuming if they even have coffee to drink. all the coffee they have probably went to Mugabe's palaces and given as gifts to his closest friends and allies. also, do they have bills to pay? all the power and water probably flowed to his palaces to turn on his oversized screen tv (to watch Kofi Annan while swearing at him) and flush his golden toilet bowl every 2 seconds.
i was being sarcastic. i don't know if its true. it could be, who knows? he might really have a golden toilet bowl that flushes every 2 seconds just for the sake of it.
