imagine if TAR had 28,000 viewers for a match

[LucasBilliards]

Thanks. I agree about it taking time.

We have seen things grow. An example of that is that we used to pay the players $750 each and a hotel for matches with them putting up $10K each in the middle. Now we pay $5000-$6000 to the players with them just having to play.

We are able to do that because of two things: The support of a small and growing number of people who support pool and us plus the fact that Mark Griffin is willing to back it up. I couldn't do any of this without Mark and his willingness to stick it out and try to grow this thing.

I have never thought TAR or anything else in pool had a chance to be "mainstream". All I want is something big enough for the top ten players in the world (and one fat guy and one old guy) to make a living at and maybe once in awhile some young kid to stumble across online and fall in love with pool the way I did.

I absolutely think you guys are on the right track and have the perfect model for success. Finding 1000 people willing to pay $15 a day to watch the best players on the planet matchup is not far fetched at all. There are alot of things that could be done fairly easy to grow TAR's exposure. Alot of it very inexpensively or free. Social media for example is one of the biggest things in the world and a well thought out campaign could go a long way. Like others have said there are alot of people, millions/ billions, that don't even know TAR or the like exist. I have plenty of ideas that I have no doubt in my mind would grow TAR's exposure and allow them to reach 1000-10,000+ viewers per PPV. A quote that I think is fitting is one from the movie "Ray" it goes something like this, "If you think in pennies you get pennies, if you think in dollars you get dollars" The idea that only hardcore fans would be willing to pay for a stream, to me, is the wrong mindset to have. To achieve bigger you have to think bigger. This is no knock on Justin or TAR at all just another perspective. Pool is my life, I want to see Justin and TAR succeed and grow just as much as anybody. My hope is that one day TAR is as big as the UFC for pool, and I honestly think that level can be achieved, it'll take some hard work and dedication but I have no doubt it's possible.

 

[JCIN]

The Tunica stream had 78,000,000 viewers.

That's right, 78 ku-jillion.

Based on several reports I saw that is just slightly more views than the Olympics streams to date.

Looks like pool is fixed.

Sweet.

 

[Black-Balled]

Based on several reports I saw that is just slightly more views than the Olympics streams to date.

Looks like pool is fixed.

Sweet.

Works for me.

Next goal: no more wimmins jogging around with extra shirts tied to their waists.

 

[JCIN]

Works for me.

Next goal: no more wimmins jogging around with shirts

Fixed that for you.

 

[efirkey]

What would you suggest ? Borrowing some money for billboard ads? Perhaps a TV commercial to reach all of those millions of people just waiting to pay to watch pool on a computer?

For anyone not keeping score at home....for 99.99% of the people on earth watching pool is right above watching buildings deteriorate on the excitement scale. Every May there is pro event with 5000-6000 amateur players less than a hundred feet away who spend on average a dime each to travel to Vegas from all over the world but won't walk that hundred feet and pay $15 to watch pros play.

Yeah I could do better. So could everyone else in this game from the players to the fans.

We have Shane playing Bustamante, Archer playing Bustamante, Alex playing Shane, on and on....best players in the world in interesting long format matches and no one seems to give a shit.

Where's the "billiard media"? I mean we put up all the money, set up all the matches, do all the production, create all the promo stuff, do free podcasts talking about it, have a facebook page, engage in the biggest pool forum on the planet....is it really that much to think maybe someone with a magazine or something would come along and say "Hey ....how about we tell some people about this?" But nope. Better off doing another table issue, an article about how wiley and crafty those road guys from the '40's were and six more columns about how to draw a cue ball two rails.

So yeah I suck at promotion but considering where the bar in this industry is set I don't feel all that terrible.

Edit to add: The only reason TAR is still around is because of the hard core support from a small group of people most of them on this forum. They put their money where their mouth is and support what we and others like us do in pool. To them I say thank you. I know when we make a match the first thing I think about is "Will our fans think this is something cool?" So yeah I haven't looked as hard for new people as I should but I damn sure try to give the ones we have a good product.

Do you have a mailing list for your TAR events? I have missed a couple simply because I forgot about them and I wanted to watch. If I get an email a couple of days in advance of the event, I will definitely subscribe to more. I am an avid pool fan, but I don't go on AZBilliards every day.

 

[Kid Dynomite]

I hear alot but no concrete examples of what TAR should do???

1. You own a Pool Room and give away shots as a free promotion??? But, will not give away a login to TAR???

2. You own a League or are the League operator and give away trophies??? But, will not give away a login to TAR as a prize???

3. Your League or Room could have exclusive rights to broadcast the stream in your area in exchange for purchasing 50 logins at a reduced rate of $10 a day and a flat $200 fee!

These three examples are Marketing and all of them are expenses that are easily written off on the businesses taxes.

1. The players could travel to several leagues or pool rooms before hand and help promote their match. Tar could set up a package deal that includes a special autograph session or special trick shot exhibition or Pro lessons for the league or room!!! The player makes extra money for each room or show they give or sign up!!!

All i am saying is," focus on BULK sales not individual sales" 52 states and try to sign up 52 rooms to an exclusive package. One in each state at say $200 and 50 logins for $10 = $700 times 52 rooms = $36000 per match!

I would tell the league or pool room to focus the give away on newbie's since the hard core players already buy or come to the room to watch!!!

The figures i used are all just examples. The PRICING IS 100% up to TAR i am just trying to give examples and Ideas of how TAR can sell their product!!

I just thought this thread could use some EXAMPLES and less talk.


KD

 

[3RAILKICK]

TAR does a great service for the pool community.

These are premier player matchups that compete for the attention and dollars of the most supportive of a too small niche audience. Carving out the time to watch in real time might be the most difficult barrier. Justin looping the feed has been helpful in that regard.

I hope TAR will further investigate the 'On demand' possibilities of viewing new or archived matches. The idea of a monthly or annual prepaid membership, to allow access to content on the subscriber's schedule might work out?? Maybe levels of fee charged for a membership with a discounted 'live' or recorded match could be possible. This membership concept has been discussed before.

Because the individual TAR match audience is limited- flexibility, pricing and convenience may help viewership. Expanding the audience, via poolroom viewing packages(event/'On demand' access) hopefully can help too.

I don't envy Justin and Mark in their efforts. But, I sure appreciate them. I try to support them by purchasing, and, if schedule allows, hopefully viewing, the TAR matches.

Thanks TAR, and wish continued success to you in such a tough gig.

 

[Ghosst]

I hear alot but no concrete examples of what TAR should do???

For the amount of work Justin does, I don't think he has oodles of time to do more. He could sponsor a work Visa for me though.

Seriously, there is more we, as a community, could do to ensure pro-level pool has a future though. Speaking of which I really need to go on FB and share the banners for the upcoming match on 8-Ball and 9-Ball.

 

[JCIN]

I hear alot but no concrete examples of what TAR should do???

1. You own a Pool Room and give away shots as a free promotion??? But, will not give away a login to TAR???

2. You own a League or are the League operator and give away trophies??? But, will not give away a login to TAR as a prize???

3. Your League or Room could have exclusive rights to broadcast the stream in your area in exchange for purchasing 50 logins at a reduced rate of $10 a day and a flat $200 fee!

These three examples are Marketing and all of them are expenses that are easily written off on the businesses taxes.

1. The players could travel to several leagues or pool rooms before hand and help promote their match. Tar could set up a package deal that includes a special autograph session or special trick shot exhibition or Pro lessons for the league or room!!! The player makes extra money for each room or show they give or sign up!!!

All i am saying is," focus on BULK sales not individual sales" 52 states and try to sign up 52 rooms to an exclusive package. One in each state at say $200 and 50 logins for $10 = $700 times 52 rooms = $36000 per match!

I would tell the league or pool room to focus the give away on newbie's since the hard core players already buy or come to the room to watch!!!

The figures i used are all just examples. The PRICING IS 100% up to TAR i am just trying to give examples and Ideas of how TAR can sell their product!!

I just thought this thread could use some EXAMPLES and less talk.


KD

Thanks.

We reached out to rooms with the last match. The response asking for the free log ins was great. The response we asked for detailing their experience with it was terrible.

I guarantee every possible idea you can think of at some point in the last five years either someone else has shared it with me or I have thought of it myself. Ideas isn't the problem....time and money is the problem.

I often find that people think telling me something else I should do constitutes help. How about telling me how to pay for it or how to find the time to follow through on it ? I appreciate the thought I do....what would help more than getting twenty posts in this thread about marketing ideas would be if people would take the time to post the tar web address on their facebook page.

 

[pwd72s]

I was watching the rover Curiosity land on Mars today on a stream and saw that it peaked at around 28,000 online viewers at one point. I think Justin would sh*t himself if he had that many viewers for a TAR match!

Matbe you're suggesting TAR should stream a match from Mars? Yep, that would get a lot of views...:rotflmao1:

 

[Ktown D]

52 states and try to sign up 52 rooms to an exclusive package. One in each state

Am I the only one who learned something new today????

 

[Kid Dynomite]

Am I the only one who learned something new today????

Yes, i make mistakes there are only 50 states!!! The other two are provinces and the district of columbia!!!!

KD

 

[hang-the-9]

Yes, i make mistakes there are only 50 states!!! The other two are provinces and the district of columbia!!!!

KD

It's OK, we expect people in Washington DC to make this sort of mistake. :wink::grin:

 

[pt109]

Yes, i make mistakes there are only 50 states!!! The other two are provinces and the district of columbia!!!!

KD

Actually, 4 of the 'states' are commonwealths.

 

[watchez]

I was watching the rover Curiosity land on Mars today on a stream and saw that it peaked at around 28,000 online viewers at one point. I think Justin would sh*t himself if he had that many viewers for a TAR match!

If you watch the insidepool streams - they some how inflate their viewers to the millions.

 

[chefjeff]

(snip)

I guarantee every possible idea you can think of at some point in the last five years either someone else has shared it with me or I have thought of it myself. Ideas isn't the problem....(snip).

This 3 minute video makes the case about an idea's (non)value:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgaBvEO2LYY


Jeff Livingston

 

[sfvpool]

Another idea that may have been tried

From someone who does try to promote TAR (on my website, telling people, etc.), here is an idea, expanding on another idea already mentioned:

Ask the pro players who are going to play in a TAR match to promote the match, and offer to pay them a percentage of the PPV fees over a certain amount (e.g., 10% of the PPV fees after your break-even cost has been covered).

 

[spanky79]

The Tunica stream had 78,000,000 viewers.

That's right, 78 ku-jillion.

The problem is this is free. Make it a $10 fee and that number drops to 178

 

[spanky79]

From someone who does try to promote TAR (on my website, telling people, etc.), here is an idea, expanding on another idea already mentioned:

Ask the pro players who are going to play in a TAR match to promote the match, and offer to pay them a percentage of the PPV fees over a certain amount (e.g., 10% of the PPV fees after your break-even cost has been covered).

they used to do something very similar to this but a few pool players made it a pain in the ass and thought they where getting shafted.

From what I understand is they actually got more then they should have.

 

[itsfroze]

Imagine if instead of a nose, we all had just a head of lettuce on our face.

We'd never be short of green!