When it comes to participation and success on the court, China continues to dominate the badminton world, so it remains a mystery as to why it struggles to enjoy similar recognition in the money-spinning areas of sponsorship and television ratings.
An AFP report in the South China Morning Post this week noted that the sport’s governing body are currently looking at ways to increase badminton’s appeal in order to close the gap to the most watched sports in China such as football and basketball.
Mooted ideas include everything from new scoring systems to brightly colored shuttlecocks and different court colors. Only a few years ago the Badminton World Federation unsuccessfully looked at trying to make women wear skirts while playing.
But the reason badminton struggles to attract the same interest as other sports could be much simpler. As far as WGM is concerned, it comes down to global appeal and the fact that sports such as football and basketball are truly on the world stage.
While Asia already dominates badminton completely, the reason China fell in love with basketball star Yao Ming and tennis heroine Li Na was because they were Chinese athletes succeeding in a sport the whole world plays.
More and more it seems that China is finding itself attracted to global sports, so perhaps the solution isn’t so much in China itself but on a wider scale. Should the sport’s authorities being looking instead to take badminton to the world? Can it conquer the US and Europe the way it has conquered Asia? Food for thought.
