Come on man. You just insulted the sports fans passion there. It's much more serious to them/me/us than just a mere birth or death in the family.
this is what slow motion sports should be like.. [video=youtube;N4Cm0pXiyZM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4Cm0pXiyZM[/video]
I would suggest the need to promote individual players & possibly city teams in non-Asian countries. If badminton ever hopes to become "main stream" sport outside of Asia, city/league formats need to be adopted, and continued grassroots movements developing players from young ages. There is no emotional connection between spectators in non-badminton countries, versus fans in badminton nations. As players become better, and more well known, leagues can then promote "xyz" super star with relevant statistics to back up the player's prowess. Examples: - Top smash speed. - Average points per match - Service Aces - Service Errors - % smash winners - % net play winners etc. etc. etc. Heck, change up the court surfaces!!! "Player XYZ from Team UK is the best grass court player in the world " Really? I've got to check this out and find out why Without interesting statistics, people currently don't care to get to know players. They just know wang & dong from China is playing cheech & chong from Mexico. Of course they go and find other entertainment to enjoy. To become popular and stick into the minds, and hearts of those who do not yet understand the sport, you have to make them LOVE the sport. Enthusiasts who love badminton, love it because they play it. As marketers and advertisers you must forge that emotional connection, or the illusion of that emotional connection with the viewing audience through things like statistics. Speaking about other sports like Football (Soccer for North Americans), is a great example of how emotionally involved fans around the globe get for their favorite nation's teams and players. Why? because they've formed that bond over time, and locally. Many have played said sport when they were young, but really enjoy watching the pros play. This is the same for hockey in Canada. American Football in the US & Canada. Basketball & Volleyball... Globally. Another point I want to bring up. Why did badminton move indoors? Is it because people complained that it was too difficult to play outdoors? Allow tournaments to also be played outdoors in varying conditions, with different surfaces. The best tennis players in the world adapt to different court surfaces, and show why they are the best. (OK, synthetic strings changed the game big time, but you ever notice how hardly anyone ever really comes to the net anymore?? I'm sticking my arm up to state a big reason is because of all the wicked topspin generated by synthetics... but I digress) In the past... I've played ice hockey in the -25 degree celsius cold freezing my cajones off, but having great fun. I've slogged through wet soggy mud catching pigskins and blocking 300lb offensive line players in American football. I golf in the rain, I hit driving ranges even when its cold. I also happen to play tennis on various court surfaces. If I can adapt to different conditions... I'm sure pro-badminton players can easily adapt! Make them play badminton outdoors, and on varied court surfaces! Pro-league sports all have a few things in common, with the actual promoting the sports. At the core... they offer various statistics for teams and players. Who will buy your badminton trading cards if nobody knows who the heck player XYZ is, and why they are so special? You forge those emotional bonds, and connections with players, and teams. (more so the player when it comes to tennis) One other thing, for any sport to succeed, you need money. (the payout for badminton has changed in recent years for the better!) Skirts, and graphical gimmicks wont draw in sponsors, and ultimately more people as viewers. Those of you who keep clinging to this idea of showing off the "speed" of the sport of Badminton are stuck in the past, and have to think more broad mindedly. It's too gimmicky, and limiting. The key to growing this sport... Win the hearts and minds of your spectators and supporters, (especially children) and you will have made them fans for life. Give them a reason to love you. The money will come. These are merely suggestions to float more ideas off of, and are not necessarily valid points. Just my opinions. Take them for what you will, and hopefully more ideas and discussion points will come of them. Cheers.
Some nice points there. Although the Wang and Dong from China vs Cheech and Chong ( amongst my face stand-ups) from Mexico came across as a bit, you know.... Also the comparison with pygmy sports like ice hockey or gridiron was unnecessary msince badminton has atleast 8 times the fan base of the latter and 10x times fans of the latter... Lacrosse or squash or darts may be more apt comparator's for gridiron or ice hockey. But even squash and darts have more fans.
My player reference was meant to be cheeky, take my comments with a grain of salt, whether you like it or not. I didn't want to get into semantics of numbers, but I'll take the bait if it helps clarify my position more. Lets see here... So badminton has 8 to 10 times the fan base of "pygmy sports Ice Hockey & American Football" So by virtue of sheer numbers... badminton is popular. (I am not disputing this because I've been a player/fan since I was 5 years old, and an forum member since 1999, or was it 2000? Can't quite remember, old age It was before we had to register to login and post on BC forum. I digress.) So... Why would the BWF feel the need to revamp the image of the sport, to make it more "popular?" Allow me to pose a question, and attempt to enlighten or educate our friends outside North America, and from warmer climates. Now... How much is the average salary of a touring professional badminton player? Keep this question in mind as we proceed. One thing that the article posted earlier in the thread should really have asked, is this. "How do you promote the sport of badminton to the fans that are willing to spend more money to support the sport and it's players?" This, really is the truth of the matter. But by estimates, and I know they are true, (the sheer number of badminton fans/players are not in dispute here...) but then Professional Badminton players should all be making what? let's say a nice round minimum figure of $100,00USD? Oh? but they're not, are they? I will use the NHL & NFL, as they are North America's professional Ice Hockey League, and Pro Football Leagues, because we are comparing to Professional Badminton. ***For the record, I cherry picked these 2 sports for a reason to compare to badminton, because there are relevant financial numbers, that can be used in the discussion when comparing popularity between these professional league sports*** The minimum NHL hockey player salary for the 2015-2016 season is $575,000USD The minimum NFL American Football player salary for 2015 season is $435,000USD These are minimum salaries for players in their respective professional leagues. ***For reference, the median household income in the USA for 2012 was ~$50,500 (this number would not drastically change year over year, over a short period of time.)*** How much are our professional Badminton players paid again??? For a bigger picture... The NHL is a $3.7 billion US dollar industry.* The NFL is a $11.2 billion US dollar industry.* Premier League Football ~$5 billion US dollar industry in today's conversion.* * - denotes 2014 statistics. -------------------------- sources: http://www.puckreport.com/2009/07/nhl-minimum-wage-maximum-wage-by-year.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_professional_sports_leagues_by_revenue https://www.spotrac.com/blog/nfl-minimum-salaries-for-2015-and-the-veteran-cap-benefit-rule/ ---------------------------- Not bad for "pygmy sports" with 8-10 times smaller fan base. I'd sure like to see BWF numbers for comparison. [MENTION=122085]Fan123[/MENTION] I posit, that my references to Ice Hockey & American Football are indeed valid. If we, as badminton fans, and players alike, keep looking down on other pro sports, and ignorantly acknowledging badminton is best because of the "popularity" amongst the global populace, this sport will never achieve true & proper financial solvency; and thus the professional player base will continue to suffer as it currently does. So, how do your other suggested sports leagues compare? They don't? That's what I thought. Financial success of the professional player base, is critical to the success, survival, and growth of any professional sport. ----------------------------------------------------------- So people might ask... "why do their players get paid so much?" For the simple reason, the fans are are willing to spend, not just more money, A LOT more money. Everything from attending the sporting event, to paying for memorabilia, to autographs. (Eg. I am part of a group of 4 buyers, who are paying for a VIP suite, and inviting guests to join us. Or we view in the privacy and comfort of our suite without guests. We also donate our seats to charitable causes, or children and families that are less fortunate. It costs tens of thousands of dollars, and the food and drink is extra on top of that.) So it begs the questions; - Why aren't badminton fans willing to spend this sort of money to watch their favorite players play? - Would they spend larger sums of money if they knew it was supporting the player base? Helping the players both high and low ranked survive and make a decent living? Other questions to ask, and points to make might be... - Are badminton fans already spending large amounts of money to watch the professional players? (I highly doubt we are) If yes, then... - Where is all that money going? Fiscal governance, and responsibility, and corporate structure of said governing body of the sport, can make a HUGE impact on how much players get paid. If I am going to fork over as much money toward watching professional badminton live, as I pay for my annual Golf membership dues, I had better be seeing where that money goes, and see who it benefits. I want to see that players are being compensated whether low, or high ranking. I want to see that BWF administrators, and sponsors are not abusing their positions of power and siphoning off the funds, that should go to the hardworking athletes. Another point. For every one of the 9 Yonex Voltric Z-Force II's I own. I wonder how much money really goes back to the sponsored players under contract with Yonex? Do they profit share? Do they see a single dime? Are the manufacturers profiteering more than they deserve, off the backs of hardworking athletes? It's one thing to have 8-10 times larger fan base than "pygmy sports like hockey & football" but the player base sure isn't benefitting from all of us now, are they? Oh, and please don't bring up the "LCW & Lin Dan drive Lambos and Ferrari's" please, I've seen, and read enough of this stuff. Because if you think about it in proper context... Exactly how many millions of fans & how much support, that it took to afford only a handful of pro players the ability to afford these vehicles??? Our collective efforts are not quite so successful now are they? Especially if other players are starving and have to work 2 or 3 jobs to support their professional badminton career. City teams, and individual player promotion in local markets folks! It's a great way to go! It works for the "pygmy sports of Ice Hockey, and American Football" It can work for badminton! Cheers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Once again, all the comments contained herein are of my own opinion. My flippant quotations of the words "pygmy sports" are in response to another forum members words, to emphasize in irony that they really are not pygmy sports. Take my comments with a grain of salt, whether you like them or not. Your opinion may differ... greatly. That's why we are here to discuss, and learn from one another.
Indeed the pygmy sports (and MLB) along with other rich sports like sailing, shooting and equestrian are financial giants. And their fan bases are comparable too. Thats why the remark within inverted commas. But its a pipe dream for badminton to compete financially with them unless BWF gets its act right. Where are the multi billion dollar TV deals and high paying sponsors??? The fans have to wait for weeks/months even in Asia to watch top level badminton on telly outside SS/GPG level. And the payouts are horrendous. Its a crying shame that a few players decided to skip last years Aussie Open SUPER SERIES because the two way trip and hotel bills were much higher than the prize money for them. Without national federation support, ALL countries will struggle to field badminton teams. Even Singapore or Qatar. Because the peanuts on offer wont be tempting for individual athletes. The only way towards financial solvency is if USA discovers/produces the Bobby Fischer of badminton and BWF starts selling his matches with the leading Chinese as Cold War II. Hopefully he can bring Nike or UA on board. We are a semi-professional sports as it stands today.
