BWF is a failure in promoting this sport

Discussion in 'General Forum' started by lurker, Jul 21, 2018.

  1. lurker

    lurker Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jan 15, 2007
    Messages:
    1,998
    Likes Received:
    1,016
    Location:
    KL, Msia


    click bait title *sorry*

    not sure if the youtuber is present here in this forum, but i agree with all of the points raised by him.
    But starting this year onwards, i noticed the social media approach is much better especially FB
     
    R20190, kwun and visor like this.
  2. Junye

    Junye Regular Member

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2005
    Messages:
    930
    Likes Received:
    428
    Occupation:
    Evening Badminton Player.
    Location:
    Singapore
    I just watched this. Indeed BWF have failed to capture the attention of potential fans. Ask for feedbacks from the public if bwf have no ideas. I'm sure lots would gladly help to improve the popularity of the sport globally.

    They need to do more to improve the TV viewing angles of matches and the perspection of badminton as an easy sport. [​IMG]

    Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk
     
  3. phihag

    phihag Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 4, 2014
    Messages:
    1,008
    Likes Received:
    730
    Location:
    Germany
    I don't think it's either useful or fair to criticize BWF in general. So, on the specific points:

    Low camera angles seem like a good idea. The downside is of course that you need more cameras. As these cameras almost always have to be manned, you also need additional operators (as opposed to, for example, the camera fixed above the service judge). I would like to see at least a couple of rallies per game from a lower perspective, especially in singles, where the pace is somewhat slower and there is no complex positioning.

    The quality of the videos on the official BWF YouTube channel seems to be consistently 1080p now. I see little point in complaining about past problems that have been rectified for some time.

    I concur that BWF's video titles could be changed to be more descriptive, and would welcome less boilerplate in front of these short snippets.

    I concur with @lurker that BWF's social media efforts, especially on Facebook, seem to be at least ok these days. Despite what the video makes it out, BWF does not have near-unlimited funds like FIFA, NFL, NBA etc. . BWF's total annual budget is about 20 Million $.

    In 2018, BWF has massively increased its Marketing & Communications budget from 550k$ (only 355k$ spent!) to 1220k$, from I which I would expect a number of improvements. To me, this looks like BWF is well-aware with the problems discussed in the video, and is doing the right things to correct them.
     
    s_mair and Cheung like this.
  4. Borkya

    Borkya Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2016
    Messages:
    492
    Likes Received:
    487
    Occupation:
    teacher
    Location:
    Xiamen, China
    I actually agree with this kid 100%. Although to be fair, making badminton more popular for a western audience needs a multi-prong approach and the games are just one aspect of it so it's not entirely the BWF's fault.

    But the BWF is old fashioned and I have been regularly disappointed in their game broadcasts. I mean, I'm super obsessed with the sport and hearing about it from all angles and yet even I can barely get through an episode of Badminton unlimited. It's slow, boring and they somehow make a really funny/cute idea (like the "how well do you know your partner" game) into a really boring segment. And I'm "old" (aka middle aged) and grew up pre-internet era so it's not like I'm some millennial that eats avocado toast and has no attention span. They just somehow manage to suck the life and energy out of a lot of their broadcasts.

    And like this kid says, they don't need millions and trillions of dollars. They just need some recent grad from a communications school that loves badminton to take over all their media, hahaha.
     
    llrr likes this.
  5. konstancij

    konstancij Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 23, 2017
    Messages:
    93
    Likes Received:
    35
    Location:
    Riga
    oh. c'mon , be fair. what is another popular sport federation, that officialy providex streams of prime events on youtube, with excellent commentary? what I know, sumo costs hundreds for 1 tournement live streaming. tennis, you had to purchase atp and wta separately, and most dissapointing are geographical rastrictions. football, even world championship is only available via national broadcasters. and you tell bwf is old fashioned, I disagree.
     
    Cheung, decoy, Fidget and 1 other person like this.
  6. Cesium

    Cesium Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 12, 2018
    Messages:
    262
    Likes Received:
    81
    Occupation:
    Web Developer
    Location:
    Canada
    BWF promotes this sport? Since when??
     
    colekwok and ucantseeme like this.
  7. LenaicM

    LenaicM Regular Member

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2018
    Messages:
    1,280
    Likes Received:
    1,035
    Location:
    Europe
    There is always room for improvements but I’m rather sided with the ones thinking BWF does a decent job.
    Sure more angles would be nice but there is at least a live streaming, not all sports provides such a coverage of almost all events, afterwards the matches are uploaded on the channel of the BWF if you missed the live.
    I also watched almost all the coaching series on their channel and was thankful that it existed as a complete beginner.
    I personally never miss a badminton unlimited episode (some good topics, loved the yonex factory tour, seeing Kirsty Gilmour at home training, etc).
    But ok it can always improve, I agree on that part. Episodes could be longer for example and a bit more dense. There could be longer and deeper interviews of players and more of « day in the life of ___ » series that could provide real insides of a player’s life, some tips of the pro, etc.
     
    Fidget likes this.
  8. Griff88

    Griff88 Regular Member

    Joined:
    Nov 27, 2017
    Messages:
    196
    Likes Received:
    108
    Location:
    INA
    BWF is not doing the right thing but they're changing....

    They planned to make Instagram account in the upcoming months (together with other exciting things)

    They lift the geo-restrictions after 2 weeks or so (but still blocking the 2017 videos lol)

    FB and Twitter getting more lively (although it is somewhat spammy to me)

    So, give them time.
     
    pcll99 and Fidget like this.
  9. colekwok

    colekwok Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 16, 2005
    Messages:
    482
    Likes Received:
    6
    Occupation:
    Fixing people
    Location:
    London/HongKong
    I am already pretty happy with the youtube live this year. Apparently Skysports/Eursports stopped buying the broadcast licence. They never broadcast games other than the finals anyway. I guess it takes time for them to change, they do not have the same amount of money as in tennis or some other popular sports even if we have more and more sponsorships other than Yonex.

    Actually thanks to the rising stars from countries outside the traditional few, such as India, Japan (and Spain), more people from these countries are trying to get into our sport. My local club certainly saw an influx of newbies from the above countries joining.
     
  10. Victor68

    Victor68 Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2017
    Messages:
    163
    Likes Received:
    28
    Location:
    Singapore
    When you are seeing more winners from different countries, there is hope. However, like most sports, if the west aren't good enough to win, media coverage will be low. Just take Singapore for example, almost no coverage even though this is one of the most popular sport here. They would rather report on some minor road accident.
     
  11. Junye

    Junye Regular Member

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2005
    Messages:
    930
    Likes Received:
    428
    Occupation:
    Evening Badminton Player.
    Location:
    Singapore
    no medals. no awards. they will only cover some badminton news. if they go interview the local athletes. see their records will make locals sad. They only report the good stuffs... or bad stuffs (that make u feel good to be singaporean).

    by the way there is one tournament coming.
    Singapore International Series 2018


    i only find it disgusting how many games the bwf players are playing. Come on. they are not robots.... how to keep playing non stop. leave the small tournaments title chances to to the lower seeded players.
     
  12. pcll99

    pcll99 Regular Member

    Joined:
    Nov 19, 2009
    Messages:
    8,732
    Likes Received:
    630
    Occupation:
    Cylon
    Location:
    N/A
    I guess when HSBC signed up with BWF in 2017, they were thinking about lifting the geo-restriction after 2 weeks in 2018.

    HSBC was willing to pay more for the lifting of geo-restriction, while BWF was willing to receive less from broadcasting rights.

    I guess it's good news for everyone.
     
    #12 pcll99, Oct 12, 2018
    Last edited: Oct 12, 2018
    Cheung likes this.
  13. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2002
    Messages:
    23,818
    Likes Received:
    4,791
    Occupation:
    wannabe badminton phototaker
    Location:
    Outside the box
    You can see the logic behind this.

    Greater YouTube exposure is outweighing the exposure from individual countries TV rights. It is an interesting model One has to admit, in the past, selling TV rights was the only way to get exposure, but if the TV isn't showing any badminton, then the TV stations had badminton in a stranglehold. YouTube has given a more competitive medium to the market. I would say that it is a clever and non traditional strategy that accesses a new generation who never knew a time when there was no Internet.
     
  14. Baddyforall

    Baddyforall Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jun 22, 2015
    Messages:
    8,040
    Likes Received:
    2,680
    Location:
    Chennai
    Do you find Rio olympics badminton videos anywhere?. No. Utter failure.
    Sent from my SM-G600FY using Tapatalk
     
  15. lurker

    lurker Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jan 15, 2007
    Messages:
    1,998
    Likes Received:
    1,016
    Location:
    KL, Msia
    Maybe due to copyright issues

    This current YOG also is not streamed via BWF
     
  16. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2002
    Messages:
    23,818
    Likes Received:
    4,791
    Occupation:
    wannabe badminton phototaker
    Location:
    Outside the box
    Olympic badminton is not owned by BWF so it's a bit different.
     
    phihag likes this.
  17. event

    event Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2005
    Messages:
    2,901
    Likes Received:
    278
    Location:
    Korea
    Leaving aside the fact that the Olympics are just one more tournament, and always have the weakest field of any that happen to include all the world #1 and #2, can you find Rio videos for all the other sports? I normally don't try but perhaps you do. I mean, is , say, the 2016 tennis final available? If so, given that the IOC is far from abandoning the TV rights sale model to which Cheung refers, would you say that the availability of that tennis match - or lack thereof - is the result of an utter success on the part of the International Tennis Federation? Or is it just at the whim of those who maintain the IOC's Youtube channel?
     
  18. Sundis

    Sundis Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 22, 2012
    Messages:
    3,914
    Likes Received:
    1,134
    Occupation:
    Watching and playing badminton
    Location:
    at home
    When talking about BWF and them failing to promote badminton I want to ask how long can the BWF president remain in his position? Paul-Erik Hoyer Larsen has been the president forever (it feels like that), are they going to change one day or what?
     
  19. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2002
    Messages:
    23,818
    Likes Received:
    4,791
    Occupation:
    wannabe badminton phototaker
    Location:
    Outside the box
    Compared to fifteen years ago, I think they have actually done a better job. And that's definitely due to the Internet. Some of the crap ideas like 7 points games, a rule trying to force the ladies to wear skirts, trying to reduce mixed doubles to eleven points per game under the old scoring system - these were before Hoyer Larsen's time. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see a couple of those ideas were blatantly sexist and IBF quite rightly and embarrassingly got rapped on the fingers.

    To be bluntly honest, worldwide popularity was never going to come through BWF and their tiny infrastructure. It comes from new markets and this means spreading out tournament wins across countries.

    So this rise of badminton champions in Thailand, India, Japan has been a huge influence. Access to YouTube, interviews with the players and now better translators(!) are adding to the user experience. India especially has been a huge factor. Half the population don't get good access to cricket and then they got a role model in first Saina, and later Sindhu to inspire them. The proportion of girls in India playing badminton must be huge compared to cricket. And that market has a huge branding opportunity which is partly why HSBC felt it worthwhile to sponsor badminton.

    So, IMHO, steady progress has been made Badminton won't be spectacular (most sports are not) but it is on an upward trend.
     
    LenaicM and event like this.
  20. event

    event Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2005
    Messages:
    2,901
    Likes Received:
    278
    Location:
    Korea
    Hoyer was first elected as BWF president in 2013. In 2017, he got the nod to stay on for at least another 4 years because no one ran against him. According to Wikipedia, there were 2 others in the last few decades who remained in office for 8 years.
     

Share This Page