Not really.
I still maintain that sport TKD bears little to no resemblance to taekwondo and should be named accordingly. There is little to no kwon and really not any do. Or the art should be called something else. Either way. Sport taekwondo is essentially foot fencing, a sport for which, honestly, there is no viewership interest.
The only reason that football, basketball, baseball, etc. can do what they do is sponsorship dollars. The only reason that there are sponsorship dollars is because there is a television audience. The only reason that there is a television audience is because before it was on television, those sports packed stadiums with spectators on a nationwide level.
Taekwondo does not even come close to doing that outside of Korea, and viewer interest was deemed low enough that it was not televised when it was in the olympics.
Frankly, once the sport takes over (and it has) then the emphasis shifts from what taekwondo was originally conceived as and became popular as to a sport that generates about as much interest as badmitton amongst television audiences. Nothing wrong with badmitton. Fun game. But you won't be seeing any multimillion dollar contracts for badmitton players.
Taekwondo works best when it is taught as a martial art. The schools do not need the sport. Yes, those trophies are a nice way to wow potential customers, but not a necessity. Generally, a well run school with a courteous staff and well developed childrens' and adult programs is all that you need to do well with a school. Look at how many successful schools are out there. There are way more successful school owners than there are pro football players. They may not make a bajillion dollars, but they will all have longer professional careers and will do a lot more good for a lot more people than any pro athlete ever will.
Daniel
