Marketing is a core element of our sport, we endeavour to bring more attention to judo and promote the values, and the beliefs of Jigoro Kano. Improving oneself goes a long way to improving society, but the question is, how can we show the rest of the world the importance of judo?
Before the 75th EJU Ordinary Congress begins on the 8th of December, many workshops have taken place, attended by national federation members. Today, the focus was on Marketing, led by EJU Vice President, Mr Otto Kneitinger and EJU General Secretary, Mr Martin Poiger.
There were many points made and suggestions offered to the national federations, using examples from the past year, to enhance the presence of judo. Our sport is of course part of the Olympic movement and it was highlighted that the Paris 2024 Games is upon us, and this time needs to be utilised.
Data provided demonstrated that in the Tokyo Olympic Games, judo was the third most ‘global’ sport with almost 400 athletes from 124 nations. Judo sat behind only athletics and aquatics which had 2000+ and 1400+ athletes respectively. This is a perfect example of how ‘global’ we are and how wide our reach can be.
There were examples provided to generate sponsors and to attract new partners for the federations, with emphasis on numbers provided on social media with the extraordinary engagement from the younger generation. This was also reflected on JudoTV, highlighting the figures from the European Championships with viewership reaching almost two million, and cadet cups averaging 800,000. For this reason, and to continue to improve our service, the Head of Broadcasting and Venue Management, Mr Igor Vunjovic stated that there will be a minimal broadcasting service in the forecasted European Open tournaments in 2024, as well as all of the prime events. Already, this improved service was debuted in the Senior European Championships in Montpellier, then again in the U23 European Championships in Potsdam.
Otto KNEITINGER, EJU Senior Vice President stated,
European judo is currently taking a huge step forward. And it is not only the EJU that is benefiting from this, but also every single member, i.e. every national association. Last year, we financed 971,000 euros through the Solidarity Programme for the federations, and the same amount is contractually guaranteed for 2024. We are ready for the Olympic year!
Author: Thea Cowen