This was a story that was discussed on ESPN radio show with Michael Kay today. Over the past weekend, one of the local NY/NJ NHL Hockey Teams was playing and the game was broadcast on cable TV. The total number of household that watched that NHL game broadcast was:
736!
That shows that even with a major sport like Hockey, Marketing cannot be taken for granted. That is why chess was never so successful on a big scale. We have NO ONE so far who knows how to properly market our sport. This is why the upcoming USCF Executive Board election is so important. We, as a sport / game, must get with the times.
Whether chess events are covered LIVE on the Internet or TV, we MUST take the Marketing aspect of chess very seriously!
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
model it after the poker. knockout blitz tournays with decent cash prizes, trash talk, funny in-game analysis, and some decent looking in between round girls doing interviews and I think it has potential.
i hope chess does gets on t.v!!!that would be so greate!!!!!!!!!
Hi Susan, I am happy that you are well. Dont take all this stuff too seriously, its not worth your health. Any, chess can only market what it has. I was a kid when Bobby played Spassky and chess was never more exciting. After he retired, chess died in the US. We need another dynamic male player who can light a fire again. Obviously I’m biased for an American. Look at the Swiss star Roger Federer: nobody cares outside of die hard tennis fans. Thats my take. I wish I could play a game against you just to see how many moves I could last.
and there is only ONE MARKETING expert running in this election and that is …..
Paul Truong!!
If paintball competition is on TV, there is definately room for chess (on cable, where there are alot of channels).
I believe it should be blitz or rapid, both genders, knockout (like jumba said), and with detailed analysis (ie. meaningful digital overlays on screen (showing predicted moves?); not scribble pens like the NFL).
And do not spend the entire program explaining the rules of chess! We get it! That is why we’re watching.
This is why I hate US motorsports broadcasters.
In the US, they tell you every race what understeer and oversteer is.
European race coverage, they talk about the drivers, the behind the scenes, the gossip, etc.. and once in awhile they yell “Wow, what a pass! That bloke almost took out my mate!”
Cheers,
Pal
I don’t think it’s important to typical chess players.
Showing stuff on TV is expensive because of all the dedicated hardware, and the was channels are limited. It’s a zero sum game, so to get something on you have to take something off.
The internet, you can double the number of different offerings, and with the same total number of viewers the infrastructure costs are the same.
I think most chess players don’t care if they’re at their computer or their TV, as long as they can see the games and hear/see the commentators. People say “oh yeah that would be great if it was on TV” in the same way they’ll agree it would be great if they could visit the space station. But there is little real demand for it.
Who it really benefits is the professional players, because it has the potential to increase the prizes. But I don’t see that increasing the prizes at the local weekend swiss. And the average chess player isn’t any more likely to reach a professional level of play if the prizes are larger. You have to love chess for the chess, to put in the effort to even find out what your skill level is.
And the pros aren’t really advancing the game much. They did until the comps became the powerful training tool. Now at the top level it’s just a question of how much they can each remember, and how good they are at the psychological side. Anything new is quickly shown to be equal or inferior to what was before.
So I would prefer the efforts go into expanding free internet audio/video coverage. That is what will benefit the people.
Chess could never be marketed like poker since part of the appeal os WSOP,blackjack, etc. is that they’re games of chance that people (feel) can easily master the skill and hit a “jackpot” if they get lucky. From talking with non-chessplayers plenty ofthem are interested in the game, but are prevented from playing in tournaments/following it due to a fear of being thought stupid and/or knowing it requires (unlike cards) and immense amount of natural talent/practice, which makes them feel they can’t compete, and thus relate with the pros
I worry about something more close to home: the USCF elections. This is a form of marketing. Looking for votes instead of cash. But many of the same principles are fundamentally the same.
Susan has run a near-perfect campaign so far. But I am worried about the other 3 candidates. But for Susan, the others’ campaign statements were really bland. Many people have said that this is what elected SS: a dynamic campaign statement vs. a bunch of bland ones.
Susan’s team didn’t even have a campaign website to reference to! (Just Susan’s, no one else.) I sure hope that the other 3 are working this election and the rest of us just aren’t aware of it.
If our side looses, it will be for this very reason: we took this thing for granted.
According to http://64.ru/ Campomanes got into a car accident. He was going to airport in Antalya after he attended FIDE Presidential council meeting there. He will have to undergo serious surgery on Feb 3rd.
Posted by: Russianbear at February 2, 2007 20:31
the above was just posted on DD. Mig’s site.
http://www.chessninja.com/dailydirt/2007/02/armenian_rock.htm
People who do not play tennis or golf or motor racing can watch it on TV with enjoyment and understanding.
But if you enjoy and understand chess – then just play it. It is right there on ICC or whatever. You don’t have to be a passive observer.
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3252
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3597
There are two articles at Chessbase by Steve Lopez where “Chess on TV” and what he calls Rapid Transit Chess are widely discussed. I think they are interesting to read too.
The NHL is a good example for the chess world to examine. Hockey is strongly established in many countries (Canada, Sweden, Russia, USA etc). It has several professional leagues. It is covered on TV (albeit in scattered systems) and is an olympic and world championship sport. Yet, it is foundering – in large part because of an incredibly stupid labor dispute which canceled a whole season . The take home lesson is that despite all of the obvious advantages it is still possible to screw up something if everyone acts in a greedy hard-headed my-way-is-the-only-way approach.