Fencing has long been one of the niche sports that only garners large viewership at the Olympics. Millions of viewers globally tune in during the games but after? Very few people — if any— keep up.
However, professional fencer, three time Olympian, and two time World Champion Miles Chamley-Watson is on a mission to change this narrative by starting the World Fencing League, the sports’ first global professional league.
The league is focused on elevating the sport by providing top notch entertainment that is accessible to all viewers, whether or not you have ever watched or participated in fencing.
They are doing this through their mission of “reimagin[ing] fencing for a global audience through broader formats and world-class production.”
But what is this world-class production? For Chamley-Watson, it’s streamlining the process. They have simplified the rules to make it clear for anybody watching, sped up the game by removing dead air time and reducing stoppages throughout the matches with the winner being the one with most points when the clock runs out.
There will be six fights per event with two teams going head to head, and the winner will be whoever’s team earns more head to head wins over the course of the night. If it ends in time, there is one final fight that goes to sudden death where the first touch wins everything, putting an exciting twist on the rules of fencing.
If that isn’t enough to make it easier to follow and drive engagement, the WFL will be implementing a “Sword Tip Visualization System”— making it easy to follow the elusive foils by lighting them up on screen for ease of viewing pleasure, as well as showing the intricate beauty of the sport itself.
A lesser talked about benefit of the “Sword Tip Visualization System” is it will help to train future fencers by watching where the professionals move their foils and the techniques they use. This can open up the sport further by onlookers being able to learn by watching which was never totally possible given the nearly impossible to see foil previously.
The World Fencing League will have its debut this Saturday on April 25 at the Shrine Auditorium inside Los Angeles with two newly formed teams going head to head; Team Blade and Team Shield. Both teams will feature some of the best fencers from all three types of fencing; Foil, Épée, and Sabre with the winning team splitting $100,000.
Tickets are available for purchase on the WFL website for anywhere between $75 and $150. The event will also be available to watch at 5:15 PM PST on YouTube and DAZN for free for those who can’t make it in person so tune in to the future of professional fencing.