Yeah , You are right , most people watch Mens matches but I enjoy watching females play just as much as I enjoy watching men play
We will only know by 2010 when Uber Cup is played . Well... we will have to wait for the 2010 Uber Cup to see how our opinions hold. .
It's politically correct to give female and male players same prizes. That's inevitable. There're two schools of thoughts whether they deserve it. But many decisions are made not solely on the amount of work they put in. Take tennis for an example, lower prize money did not hurt women from participation for many years. And now equal payout does not hurt male players either. Let's hope the rising tide of badminton popularity will bring all boats up in the future.
Female players should get more if she look like this! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Up8THwgEl3Y Shame about her interviewing skills but who cares?
Maybe it's something to do with her being a German, not familiar with certain words. Fortunately, badminton is no beauty contest. Being tall, skinny, good-looking, etc. earns no points or prizes. All eyes are on where the shuttles land and how they are delivered there. Hopefully, she'll be judged by her skills
Seriously, with that tiny bit of the so-called "prize money"... the changes won't matter much at all. This announcement is nothing more than a joke. What sort of a "big difference" is a few hundreds, or maybe a thousand dollars going to do? Make you feel like a "Millionaire" all of a sudden? 192 out of 256 players in the entire tournament, are going to get exactly or less than $600 U.S... guarantee in each tournament(whether they level the prize money or not). Seriously, how in the world can you live on that(Not including any subsidy from other sources)? Even if you play in 2 tournaments/month, that's like 1,200/month for those who can't get into the quarter finals??? On average, in Calgary Canada, a worker working at a fast food restaurant(eg. McDonalds, Wendy's) get paid about $11 Can/hour, and if they work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week... they get paid $1,960/month. By the way, the cheapest rental apartments these days cost about $1000/month. Why become a professional badminton player when you can't even put food on the table for your family? might as well work for McDonalds. By the way, Federer makes more money winning 1 grand slam, than Lin Dan has made after winning like 1st place _______ number of times in international tournaments. Way to go!!! badminton!!! It is better to be an amateur player and just enjoy the sport for what it is... trying to make a living out of it, is good only if money is not important to you(how many can say that?), and you must be #1 in the world, too.
i looked that up yesterday http://www.frontrowking.com/tennis/us_open_tennis_prize_money.html U.S. Open Money 2006 US Open Prize Money Schedule Singles (Men & Women) Base Prize Money / Potential Payout with Bonus Prize Money Winners $ 1,200,000 $ 2,200,000 Runners-Up 600,000 1,100,000 Semifinalists 280,000 530,000 Quarterfinalists 140,000 265,000 Round of 16 72,000 142,000 Third Round 42,000 82,000 Second Round 26,500 51,500 First Round 16,500 31,500 TOTAL $ 12,144,000 $ 14,769,000* (*The top three men's and top three women's finishers in the US Open Series may earn up to an additional $2,625,000 in bonus prize money at the US Open.) DOUBLES (Men & Women - Per Team) Amount Totals Winners $ 400,000 Runners-Up 200,000 Semifinalists 100,000 Quarterfinalists 50,000 Round of 16 25,000 Second Round 15,000 First Round 10,000 TOTAL $ 3,520,000 $ 3,520,000 MIXED DOUBLES (Per Team) Amount Totals Winners $ 150,000 Runners-Up 70,000 Semifinalists 30,000 Quarterfinalists 15,000 Second Round 10,000 First Round 5,000 TOTAL $ 500,000 $ 500,000 SINGLES QUALIFYING (Men & Women) Amount Totals Third Round Losers $ 8,000 Second Round Losers 5,625 First Round Losers 3,000 TOTAL $ 1,000,000 $ 1,000,000
I truly agree that the price money is a joke.. if a 200K USD tournament was only one event (MS for example) it would be at least be a small step in the right direction... today a 200K torunament is really a 40K / event torunament.. and also XD,MD,WD waters it down even more as there are two persons per tem to split price money!! But this apart, I think most of the money for pro players actually come from sponsorship deals, at least for the players from the western countries. SO finacially being a pro in Denmark for example, means salsry from club/team, sponsorship deals (usually more than $200K anually for a player like Gade. and some olympic sponsorship for travel expenses etc, and some price money). /Twobeer
You have no idea how much of an advantage this German girl has in the real world for being tall, skinny, good-looking even if she decides to give up badminton(which is probably a better option unless some major changes is to be done, or if she is really that good at it). Because of her physical advantage, she is more likely to have better job offers, receive better treatment from peers(guys especially), and probably be making a better living than say WMC keeps playing badminton(not tall, and not good looking) and not being the top dog in the circuit. Seriously...
Noticed that the first round eliminated player(tennis) makes about 80%+ of what the winner of a Men singles(badminton) does... and that's before any additional bonus? Only 3 letters can describe the market value of badminton "S---A---D"
Only when Badminton can become a popular television event . Most of the monies for sports nowadays come from the television rights. Examples can be seen from the World Cup Football organised by FIFA, from the Olympics organised by IOC, from the Grand Prix Racing organised by FIA, etc, etc...... The monies from independent sponsors are really nothing compared to what the monies that can come from television rights. Only when Badminton can become a popular television event, then the prize monies can be substantial. .
Sorry my friend, I gave you too much credit, and I'm taking them back :crying: But you humor did tell the truth. The debate here is over-shadowed by the larger question of "equal opportunity", which can translate into "equal rights", the prevailing rule of the land, at least in US. It's really a moot point to debate whether or not women players should receive equal prize money. It's a one way street I do have an idea who much a movie star or a model makes, if she has such talent. But that's not our concern. What we care here is how much our women and men badminton players make. We want to help to change the situation by promoting badminton in the world and to bring badminton status on par with other major sports. The road may be hard and almost impossible. But there'll be more hope with everyone's effort.
Better looking female players, or more muscular looking male... whether you like it or not, that definitely helps to promote the sport better than higher quality players. Sad but true.
You have a good point there. But what can we do with that practically? Would you suggest that only better looking players participate in SS? Not-so-good looking players should yield to good-looking ones in competitions or Asian players to Caucasian ones to promote the sports? Again as I said before, badminton is no beauty contest. Win or loss should not be influenced by other factors, except players' skills. But from promotion stand point, maybe more cheer-leading before and after the matches
Consider this: Prakash Padukone, 1980 AE MS Winner, required a regular job to keep him going even when he was a pro Deepika Padukone, his daughter, initially trained to be a pro player like her illustrious father. In her late teens, she took up modelling. Today, she is India's hottest rising movie star... ...her fees per film are upwards of USD 250,000! Let me put it this way: That's more than what Hendra Setiawan will make if he wins the Hong Kong Open 27 times. Badminton's cheques make me fume
yeah part of the allure of a sport is the fact that it's something beyond 'normal life,' i.e. the players are way better than the spectators and they get paid exorbitant amounts of money. People will always flock to the things they can't have/aspire to be/idolize. Right now, badminton doesn't offer enough incentive to make people feel that way though.
