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Sports Press Suggests Muaythai Should Find a Hero for the Americans to Support
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14.05.2011
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 LA (Siam Town US): Ed Bert of the American sports press suggests that Muaythai could arouse the interest of Americans by creating a famous Thai boxer to be the representative of Muaythai in the same way that David Beckham did in the world of soccer.
During the “The Road to Success for Muaythai” seminar at the Thai consulate in Los Angeles on 26 March 2011, the main issue under discussion was a list of proposals for Muaythai to gain the interest and attention of the American people. The main proposed solution is that Muaythai should create a star or an iconic hero in Muaythai to be the image and representative of Muaythai to become well known in the USA so that the American people will be tempted to become more interested in muaythai.
Ed Birt is the owner and director of Live Stream Pay Per View Inc. and Jeb-Jab Productions (a company that deals with movies, TV and Internet and is widely known for broadcasting live sports through the internet). The company recently broadcast Muaythai from Master Toddy Camp (Tossapol Sittiwat) live from Las Vegas to viewers around the world.
After the seminar ended, Ed Birt talked to Siam Town about the idea of building up an iconic hero for the Muaythai world in America so that the hero will gain a lot of attention and also will make the people who are interested in that hero to feel motivated to learn about and gain more interest in Muaythai.
“Before, the Americans did not care about soccer at all. But after the success of David Beckham, soccer has grown and gained a lot of attention in America. When the American national soccer team qualified for the World Cup, American people started to support and accept soccer. We must capture that emotion for Muaythai as well so that the Americans will also start to pay more attention to Muaythai.”
Ed Birt then also mentioned that there are many people who are gifted at Muaythai and that, if they are able to be promoted to gain the attention of American audiences, he believes that there is a high chance that Muaythai will become famous and gain a lot of attention.
“Because the American culture is reality-based, if the Americans show interest in someone, they would want to see that boxer practice, fight, or talk in interviews and so on. That is the key factor. We have to find the iconic star to be the image of Muaythai, to be the “Face of Muaythai”.
As for this “Face of Muaythai”, Ed Birt said that the star might not have to be an American or even fluent in English. “We have seen in the past that many created stars are not Americans. But we will support someone for their talents. That is the American ideology. If we have talented people in the shows or movies, or in the sport world, we will see that they are the people with talent and quality, whether they are baseball players or soccer players.
“Take Yao Ming (the Chinese basketball player who plays for Houston Rockets) as an example. He is very famous in America and at the same time he brought in the Chinese culture. So we can also do that with Muaythai because America is an open country. We have mixed race people and it is not a case that we will support only the American people.
“We support everyone if the person is good at what he is doing. Also Manny Pacquiao, the Americans are crazy about him despite the fact that Manny is a Filipino and is fighting against American opponents.”
As for the process of building a muaythai hero to win Americans’ hearts, Ed Birt said that it depends on the motivation plan and the use of the press, especially through media such as the internet and from the help of specialized companies, such as making publicity films.
“Social networking on the internet is very important and necessary because teenagers and adults (up to age 34) use the internet at least 22 hours per week. We can promote a star by making webisodes on the internet to promote that star from practicing until he wins a title so that people will pay even more attention.
“And after that we can then start to schedule Muaythai events in America so that people will be able to witness the real fights. We can also promote the documentary about Muaythai and the behind-the-scenes story of that boxer from normal life to the boxing ring.”
And now that we have a plan for the “Face of Muaythai” in America, Ed Birt said that the news must always keep the audiences updated about Muaythai regularly.
“If you are a star and you are not present in body, if there is no news or updates about you, people will forget you. What we must do is that we must provide the entertainment surrounding that star, whether it is the training, the fighting, or the personality of that boxer (humble or aggressive) to catch the eyes of the viewers.
“We must create a plan. The company might do their part, such as giving news to the press. The star will have to attend parties, go to see the Lakers play, or even have his photo taken with Jack Nicholson at the Lakers game. With that he will be automatically known and remembered. We must arrange a good plan before he gets into the ring. When the fans start to follow him around, with that we will know that Muaythai will survive on its own,” said Ed Birt.
Source: Elite Boxing
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