BDMNTN XL – a new badminton event for which TFG designed the format & schedule – debuted this month in Jakarta. As well as involving  the world’s best players, including two-time Olympic Gold medallist and world #1 Viktor Axelsen (quality), and being staged in Badminton-mad Indonesia (connection), BXL also delivered the excitement necessary for any sporting product to be successful (jeopardy).

The format was designed to balance authenticity to appeal to existing fans with innovation to offer something new and exciting, and most ties and matches went down to the wire:

• 96% of matches came down to the final game

• 51% of games went down to the last minute

• 40% of matches went to a tie break (‘Shuttle Showdown’)

• 86% of matches mattered for the final result, meaning minimal ‘dead rubbers’

That the winning moment was heartily celebrated by the players suggests the stakes were sufficiently high to matter too.  More to come.