All England Ideas

[jg]

Come February tens of thousands of us will be flocking to the NIA to see this great event...Ok so there will not be that may going...but many of us will be.

I am sure we will see some great play, we may even see an English player in the semis, and we will all have our ideas on just how the event could be improved for next year.

So.................. lets start now.....what ideas have you got for how the event can be improved (I bet we get loads of comments about Yonexs selling policy)

Lets all hear your thoughts about what happens....do you like the court placings, would you like music played (as at The Commonweath Games) would you like more info relayed, Is the cafe too expensive

lets hear your thoughs

[Derek]

I think that this year's All-England could be a really good tournament. Recent results in the China Open and Copenhagen Masters suggest that a number of top players are coming to form together. (No doubt the forthcoming World Championships have abit to do with this!) As for the English players, I think we will only be looking towards the Mixed and in fact Nathan & Gail could well win it.
As regards presentation, I am old fashioned enough to let the badminton provide all the entertainment without the need for all the music that I think was overdone at the Commonwealth Games.
I am looking forward to being there!

[george]

The first thing I'd like to see is the event being re-named the "British Open" so that the general public who are not regular players can recognise it as being the prestigious event that it is instead of thinking it is the English Nationals! Even the media aren't sure - I read a few years back the event being reported on as the All England National Championships!!! I think it was the Daily Express but I couldn't swear to it.

I also think that as with the last Commonwealth Games and the Sidney Olympics, that suitable music is a good idea at natural break points. It enhanced those two prestigious events and gave a more "snazzy" upto date and professional feel - for me anyway. It would also, I think, be more apppealing to younger members of the audience.

I think that the BA of E/Yonex should allow all manufacturers to exhibit and sell and perhaps make a charge based upon percentage of sales with only a modest charge for the space. That way every one is a winner - the public can see and buy rackets other than Yonex and the BA of E can share with Yonex the profits made from the charges. Can't see Yonex agreeing as the profits would not be great and they currently enjoy a far greater advantage in not allowing sales other than their brand.

One last thing which I think would greatly enhance the event is to have short live interviews with the top players from a variety of the top nations such as Gade, Camilla Martin, Archer, Goode, Robertson N. etc... and some of the top Asians for example Flandi Limpele and Eng Hian - language barriers allowing! This could be done at the BA of E stand area and beamed onto the large screens in the arena. It would allow the public a more private insight into the players and enhance their profiles.

[Grover]

Some good points here. British Open sounds very good and I agree that it should be brought up to date as far as music and pazazz. They do it in ice hockey, basketball and even netball now. Interviews with players also a good move as it makes them more accessible to the public. I would doubt many people have ever heard some of the top players speak!!!

The Yonex issue, we all know it is strangling the game so no further comment needed.

[dlp]

They have been playing music in breaks at the All England and at England vs China tour matches for a few years now.

Changning the name, well this would only help people who know nothing about badminton, and would lose a lot in terms of history and the fact that the All England is known worldwide.

Only two things will make the All England a bigger event, TV coverage, and I don't mean an hour of highlights in grandstand or real English sucess in one of the premier events (ie not mixed and not indonesians playing under an english flag)Unfortunately I can't see either happening. Even the average badminton player in clubs doesn't know the name of the All England winners or watch the event so how can we expect it to achieve wider popularity?