A little bit of commercialisation plus a little bit of technical changes !
To start with,I'd say there is considerable awareness regarding the sport of Table Tennis(or "ping pong" as the Yanks say) all over the world as opposed to the popular belief.Even if people don't follow Table Tennis,they atleast know about it owing to the presence of Table Tennis tables in most of the big companies and organisations and due to the regular featuring of the sports in advertisements,videos,video games etc.However,unlike other sports like Soccer,Tennis,Basketball,Golf,it hasn't been able to built anything substantial over this powerful foundation.There are a couple of reasons for that.The main reason is that Table Tennis only gets most coverage in China(of which it is the national sport),Korea,Japan,Sweden and Germany.It's overlooked in most other countries over its more popular counterparts.Also,the sport is considered a "minor" sport,is less valued and so it doesn't get the required credit that it deserves.So,eventually Table Tennis fails to generates the buzz despite of its omnipresence.Also,the fact that it is a indoor sport and is played in a small arena works to its disadvantage.It gives people the opportunity to call it a 'a sport of sissies' or a 'sissy sport'.People(esp. men) refuse to accept the sport as a manly sport because of the lack of requirement of physical strength and readily ridicule it when compared to other sports(I'm being absolutely frank).This is where all other sports win hands down.
"How would you make the sport of Table Tennis more media friendly and exciting to the public"
Below are some modifications,and certain steps that i think ITTF should take for a bright and glowing future of Table Tennis :
1. First of all,make Table Tennis a lucrative sport.Coax the International Table Tennis Federation(ITTF) anyhow to increase the prize money of atleast the major tournaments like World Championships and World Cup and make it comparable to the prize money of Grand Slams in tennis.It'll automatically inject the much needed enthusiasm amongst the Table Tennis players as well as all those associated with sport of Table Tennis in one way or the other.Also,it'll get this sport alot of attention and give a instant spurt to the activities undertaken for the development of Table Tennis.It'll also reduce the attrition rate of players leaving TT and joining other well-known and lucrative sports.
2. Secondly,reduce the cost of Table Tennis equipments like racket,rubber,ball,table,water glue etc. either through mass production or by streamlining the process of production.This will help people from poor countries and weak economic background to join the party and take this sport as a career.It'll give much needed boost to the popularity of the sport,help it being called 'sport of bourgeois',which will eventually work to its advantage and help the sport built a large fanbase.It's obvious,when investments(cost incurred) is reduced and the return on investment multiplies,the sport is bound to flourish.
3. The ITTF - the world governing body of the sport - should market the sport properly.Alongwith being a individual sport,it should also market the sport as a team sport wherein there are events like Men's doubles,Women's doubles,Mix doubles and Team championship.It should also project the sport as requiring considerable physical strength and stamina(which actually is the case) making it at par with other sports.It should conduct camps at places where there is little awareness regarding this sport and recruit high-profile coaches who could make people understand how interesting,how lucrative and how much physically-challenging this sport is.Also,if possible ITTF should hire well-known sportsmen of other sports or other well-renowned personalities who have already played this sport to serve as the brand ambassador of this sport to encourage people to take this sport as a career.Some decent personalities to pick for the welfare of the sport would be George W Bush,Bill and Hillary Clinton,Hu Jintao,Paul McCartney,Susan Sarandon,Tom Hanks,Sacha Baron Cohen,Sachin Tendulkar,Rafael Nadal,Andre Agassi,Anna Kournikova and Wayne Rooney(I do believe that some amount of glamour isn't at all bad for the sport).
4. Introduce something wherein the audience,whether or not they have any player from their nation to support to,will mingle with the other cheering supporters and enjoy and savor the whole experience of watching a TT match.It could be anything,right from a toned down version of cheergirls,to anything remotely interesting and eye-catching,but what basic purpose it should serve is that it should keep spectators glued to their seats.
5. Apart from all these commercialisation and glamourisation activities(which are very vital in this 21st century),ITTF should also keep a tab on the changing trends and adapt the rules of the sport accordingly.All the already implements things like increasing the size of the ball to 40mm,introducing 11-point game,banning speed glues etc. which augur well for the development of the sport.Such important and vital changes also help to revive the game from time to time.
6. ITTF should also set up leagues in all the major countries and also help smaller and lesser known countries to establish their own Table Tennis hierarchy.If necessary it should also set up international academies wherever necessary and supply backward nations with top-quality coaches;this will help them get at par with Table Tennis superpowers like China,Sweden,Germany,Korea,Japan etc. in terms of TT skills.
7. It should also increase the number of Open tournaments that are conducted by ITTF throughout the year which will increase the level of competition in women's as well as in men's categories by leaps and bounds.
8.Lastly,ITTF should shake-up its managerial hierarchy and recruit venerable and learned people at the top posts who are capable of transforming it into a well-organised,economically well-backed,powerful and influential organisation.It should also make tie-ups with governments of powerful countries and collaborate with multinational companies to increase its prominence at the world stage(These things might look trivial at first,but these things are as important as any other technical things i discussed and will eventually bode well for the future of the sport).
Thanks !
