Badminton stars lack sponsorship deals

Badminton stars lack sponsorship deals

By Primastuti Handayani

JAKARTA (JP): Modern sports is inevitably tied to the sponsors
who pay prize money, support events and make household names
around the world of stars.

Anyone who has opened up a magazine in the last five years is
likely to think of Nike and its association with flamboyant
tennis player Andre Agassi, who has been on the company's payroll
since he took his first steps in professional tennis.

But the marriage of marketing and sports has yet to start its
honeymoon in Indonesia. Most sports, with the exception of soccer
and basketball, come up short on the hard sell of their
marketability.

Most notable in missing the sponsorship bandwagon is
badminton, the third most popular sport in the country and the
only one in which Indonesia has consistently excelled
internationally.

In the last 40 years, Indonesia has produced a slew of world-
class players of both sexes, from Ferry Sonneville and Tan Joe
Hock in the 1950s, Rudy Hartono, Minarni, Christian Hadinata,
Liem Swie King in the 1960s and 1970s, through Verawaty Fadjrin,
Ivana Lie, Icuk Sugiarto, Alan Budikusuma, Hariyanto Arbi, Susi
Susanti and Hendrawan in the 1980s and today.

Although it has suffered some setbacks in recent years,
particularly with the retirement of Susi and the erratic form of
Mia Audina on the women's side, Indonesia remains one of the
game's powerhouses.

But this has not panned out into lucrative sponsorships. The
Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) adopted a collective
sponsorship system in the late 1980s, with players admitted to
the National Training Center in Cipayung, East Jakarta, receiving
a stipend and their winnings pooled.

PBSI vice chairman Agus Wirahadikusumah told The Jakarta Post
that all shuttlers in the country were still semiprofessional.

"In the future, they must become totally professional. This is
their main job to guarantee that they can live well in their old
age."

PBSI is seeking to boost shuttlers' professionalism by
dividing them into two categories of full professionals and
semiprofessionals at the training center.

"The purpose is to subsidize newcomers, who still need
financial support from their professional seniors," he said.

PBSI signed a four-year renewable contract with Japanese
sports equipment giant Yonex on Nov. 1, 1996. In the first and
second years, PBSI received US$1 million annual contract fees,
according to a copy of the contract obtained by the Post. In the
third and fourth years, the fee increases to $1.2 million.

Fifty percent of the contract payments is for the shuttlers
and the rest for PBSI, which takes 35 percent and divides the
remainder with PBSI provincial, regional and mayoralty chapters
and clubs.

All 15 coaches receive $75,000 per year.

The collective contract system needs to be revised, Agus said,
but he added that PBSI lacked strong bargaining power in dealing
with Yonex.

"We can only complain if there are discrepancies in the
contract application. The sponsor doesn't have any competitors
due to the poor economic situation in the country," he said.

PBSI secretary-general Leo Chandra Wiranata said Yonex was
alone among sports equipment companies wanting to sponsor
badminton.

"Yonex wants to monopolize the deal because they have given
everything to fulfill our athletes needs. The same type of
contracts also are found in China and South Korea."

"Our shuttlers can get another sponsor as long as it's more
than $600,000 for all athletes per year. If they only get
individual sponsorships from smaller companies, they must ask
permission from Yonex," he said.

Leo argued that the collective system enabled PBSI to control
the sponsorships among the shuttlers.

"Shuttlers will not be deceived by small companies with bad
intentions, and potential athletes, who have yet to earn their
own prize money, also can get funds from the contract although in
small amounts."

Some shuttlers were unhappy about the collective sponsorship
system. Several contacted by the Post said they did not have any
copies of the contract.

"Officials only tell us the main points of the contract
without giving us copies of the agreement. If we want to get
another sponsorship, we have to tell both PBSI and Yonex. And if
Yonex disagrees, then we can't get another contract, even if the
amount is smaller," said a player who requested anonymity.

Another shuttler complained that PBSI and Yonex always urged
shuttlers to wear Yonex T-shirts during practice.

"But they only give limited amounts and that forces us to wear
our own T-shirts. Sometimes, when our rackets were broken, Yonex
didn't give us the spares. But, still we are not allowed to use
other brand rackets."

A senior player added: "Sometimes, Yonex hands over the
contract money later than scheduled. But I don't know if the one
who is late is Yonex or PBSI."

Another singles player urged PBSI officials to be more active
in seeking sponsors.

"I think the officials are too dependent on Yonex and they are
afraid Yonex may cut the contract. I also heard that some
officials always ask for 'personal fees'," the shuttler said.

A veteran shuttler said players should be involved in contract
discussions because they were the draw for the sponsor.

"PBSI gets the contract because of us. We must know what is in
the contract. For instance, PBSI officials said the Thomas Cup
bonus was canceled without any notification. Don't blame us if we
want to get other sponsors if they are cheating us," the player
complained.

Indonesia's victorious Thomas Cup team should have received a
$60,000 cash bonus from Yonex last year, according to the
contract.

Agus agreed that PBSI must have professional business
management in the future.

"The management must deal with all sponsors and it must be
able to create a profit-centered market. I saw that in Copenhagen
during the Sudirman Cup and World Championships," he said.

During the events, the line of autograph hunters was 10 meters
long. Each fan bought a postcard with their idols' pictures.

"That was only a simple example but why has it never worked
here? PBSI must be able to sell its athletes in the future. They
are national assets but we can't sell them. That's quite a pity."

Several top international players, including Danish men's
world number one Peter Gade Christensen and his compatriot 1996
Olympic champion Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen, are also contracted to
Yonex, but also have entered into agreements with nonsports
equipment companies, like telecommunications firm Teledanmark.

PBSI signed a contract with PT General Motors Buana Indonesia,
the producer of Opel cars in Indonesia, in 1995. The contract
ended after two years, but the shuttlers interviewed said they
never received any payment from the agreement, which included a
requirement for them to wear Opel patches on their clothing.

The economic turmoil of the past two years is often blamed for
Indonesia's sagging badminton fortunes. Still, after Indonesia
failed to have one player reach the semifinals in the World
Championships, it may be time for the officials to start taking
responsibility for what ails the country's most famous sport.
Creating a system which pleases both PBSI and its players, and
winning over new sponsors, could be the recipe for more badminton
victories.