Present and Future State of the WJF
I support the WJF. Since that's out of the way, let me share my view of what will become of the WJF in the next few years and what I think will help to improve this organization. If you enjoy watching the competitions, going to the convention, or just like sports juggling, you may want to add your own little flare to the discussion so we can hopefully make a gameplan of general consensus which eliminates the blaming of one Jason Garfield for everything the WJF does right or wrong, but mostly wrong.
The things which WJF does well go unnoticed for the most part because they run well. The televised competitions have done better this year then last year. Jason replaced Penn and Ben with the lighter commentary of Owen and John, the talent was higher and the production was sharper. The problem is not with the televising anymore, but the competition from the jugglers perspective.
I think Jason had a good game plan coming into the first years of the WJF, he wanted an over the top, extravagant perspective on a juggling competition, with superstars, nearly impossible moves and record breaking routines. He wanted to grab the general public by their small hairs and throw juggling in their face. At least he wanted them to do a google search and see what they could find. With the first two competitions televised and probably a third on the way, we can expect more of the same. He would probably want to continue bringing big talent into the competition and promote the idea of rivalries and country representation. If he could, he would like to make it as close to the World Cup of juggling as he can. I believe that if he does televise the events of this August, this should be his last public view of the WJF. We need to make the WJF for jugglers and less for the public. I feel that Jason is micromanaging the WJF and should look to a worldwide venue instead of beating the Vegas showdown to death. I think Vegas should still be a competition site, but maybe as a final destination, like in the move Dodgeball... without all the cartoonish acting. There should be some kind of a regional qualifier, so that people from all over Europe, the United States, Asia and other areas of the world can have WJF sanctioned events. This helps by lowering the talent of each event. I know we want a big show of talent, but that's for the finals. If we have just one event in Vegas, the same people are going to be showing up in the finals of the advanced balls, clubs and rings unless someone doesn't compete a certain year.
After returning from Las Vegas, I realized that Jason has the right idea by something he said in his opening speech. He said that WJF affiliates will be put up around the country, and if your club wants to become a WJF affiliate and hold your own competition, you can with full support of the organization. I find this better for sport juggling because it allows more jugglers to be inspired to practice like professionals. I know for a fact that Brett Sheets and myself were very excited by our time spent at WJF, and hearing our names mentioned inspired us to practice much more. If we can have this kind of excitement and encouragement almost a dozen times per year, the WJF could quickly become a very highly skilled organization. Having good jugglers talking to other good jugglers only makes them better. Sharing ideas offers the same results.
If you the reader are responsible for any number of jugglers in a formal club, why not put on a convention sanctioned by the WJF? It would be easy to gather vendors, arrange a show and a competition as soon as Jason puts up the information on the new WJF site. So definitely check it out, it's an opportunity not to be missed.
P.S. I was going to make a post about my experience there, but I might be writing an article for JUGGLE, so we'll see what happens.
posted by Anonymous @ 9:22 PM
6 Comments:
I share your dream of regional competitions, but your suggestions don't make economical sense to me as I understand them. If I do rightly understand you, you are saying that the WJF should stop producing and selling shows so that there will be less pressure to conform to public expectations. You are also suggesting that the WJF should continue to expand and diversify.
The problem with this is that you are effectively telling them to cut revenue while increasing expenditures---completely unfeasible for a recent start-up like the WJF, and the opposite of every commercial goal. In order to forsake the shows, you would have to come up with a source of income that can match what ESPN pays. In order for the WJF to have the money to expand, your new source must exceed what ESPN has been paying to date. That would be no easy task. I expect the payout from ESPN is easily the largest source of funding the WJF has.
In my opinion, the best thing for the WJF is to concentrate more on improving the shows. I believe this can be done without significantly watering down the competitions. If they can get a stronger viewership, they'll have the ability to pull more money through the shows. More funds means expansion. And expansion is good news for jugglers.
I was not aware that the WJF is directly receiving money from ESPN. In fact, I thought it has been stated that the WJF and/or sponsors pay to have the programs aired once. If I'm right, that means that their only revenue is from DVD sales, prop sales, and convention/workshop passes. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
you're both wrong - no money exchanges hands between ESPN and the WJF! same goes for the domino, cheerleader or ny other comp's like that on espn
I did a little more research, and the WJF does not lose money through the broadcast, nor does it really gain any (directly).
I will therefore approach the argument from a different angle. If expansion of juggling as a sport is our goal, what better medium to spread it through than television?
It seems to me that Joe's real issue is that he doesn't understand how making shows that non-jugglers can appreciate and enjoy benefits us as jugglers. But if non-jugglers are going to become jugglers, they need something that they can relate to---something to draw them in. This is why it is important to have public competitions that can be enjoyed by the non-juggler. If they enjoy the competitions, they're much more likely to try to become a competitor.
And I still maintain that putting more effort into the shows could result in sweeter deals in the future. TV shows have more potential to create revenue than poorly-crafted water bottles. :)
Thanks for fact checking, Lachlan. If you could provide some links to where you found your information, I would greatly appreciate it. Not that I don't trust you, I just want to get a better understanding of the WJF/ESPN relationship.
AFAIK, the only way to get the information is to e-mail the WJF at the address they provide on their website. I was asked not to directly quote the reply I recieved, but was told that anyone who wanted to could email him and get the same answer.
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