Richest Pro Pool Players in the World

[uwate]

No one has mentioned Dick Lane yet? In Naples when they had the senior tour last, I had a few people tell me that Dick was involved in the family business and it was oil related. maybe its bs


Parica is suppose to be pretty nicely set with his investments. Alot..maybe the lionshare comes from his wife.

I dunno though...speculating on peoples wealth always comes with a huge margin of error. When you see flashy cars, houses and jewelry...its often hiding massive debt, and alot of time the guys who dress like bums could be wiping their butts with cnotes.

 

[beetle]

.. Also, she would not be spending 8 weeks of the year playing in $15k first place events on the WPBA. That would be a borderline idiotic because there would be alot better ways to create more money with her name and time...

Obviously she plays in WPBA events because she enjoys the thrill of competition and enjoys seeing and being seen by her fans. You don't cease to do what you enjoy just to make more money--that's the recipe for depression and emptiness.

 

[COLLECTION GURU]

Black Widow's Pet

Sorry to everyone who disagreed, but Jay is absolutely correct on this... I think I've said it before, but it's been estimated that Jeanette makes between $3 and $5 million a year between endorsements and tournaments. (from the Sports Business Daily, which is the trade journal for the sports biz industry... article written in late 2006)

Jeanette, I knew it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Had this feeling you didn't need to sponge all the free coffees I buy for you not to mention the quarters for Cheyenne's education. With all that dough, "Chile Pepper" won't need to know anythig but to count. In addition, I will stop paying the $3.00 for the carts at the airport and maybe I will demand an increase in salary; ouch, I don't get a salary. All I know as the $3-$5mm couldn't go to a nicer person and a more dedicated endorcer for the game of billiards.

Collection Guru

 

[JustPlay]

For Jeanette Lee to be receiving monies from all those endorsements (congradulations on having all of those endorsements), those businessess have to be bringing in some returns on there investements to exceed what they are paying out in endorsement to her. So for her to bring in $3,000,000 to $5,000,000 per year in endorsement only, is a little too much to believe.


Also those slots of appearences on tv shows listed, last about, what 3 minutes at most and is comprised of just a few trick shots? I really would not think those tv and cable stations are paying here large sums of money. seeing a return on their investiment, especially when pool is not popular to tv audiences. Yes, she does get a fee, but not enough to bring in those figures. Also, those slots on tv are few and far between and some are repeats.

JL, is definitly a money making name for a pool player. Congradulations on having some really great success outside of pool... This is what pool players need to keep going on tour both men and women. JL definitly has a great niche with the 'black widow'..

 

[lodini]

For Jeanette Lee to be receiving monies from all those endorsements (congradulations on having all of those endorsements), those businessess have to be bringing in some returns on there investements to exceed what they are paying out in endorsement to her. So for her to bring in $3,000,000 to $5,000,000 per year in endorsement only, is a little too much to believe.


Also those slots of appearences on tv shows listed, last about, what 3 minutes at most and is comprised of just a few trick shots? I really would not think those tv and cable stations are paying here large sums of money. seeing a return on their investiment, especially when pool is not popular to tv audiences. Yes, she does get a fee, but not enough to bring in those figures. Also, those slots on tv are few and far between and some are repeats.

JL, is definitly a money making name for a pool player. Congradulations on having some really great success outside of pool... This is what pool players need to keep going on tour both men and women. JL definitly has a great niche with the 'black widow'..

They are getting plenty of ROI. Absolutely. It's called "brand association." I am reminded of a study done for Campbell's Soup. A group was polled, asked to look at a can of Campbell's Soup and give their rating of "perceived quality." The group rated the soup an average of 5.2 out of 10 for perceived quality. The same group was then given a can of Campbell's Soup with a picture of Donovan McNabb on it. The perceived quality rating rose 30% (HUGE in the world of marketing). It was the same freaking soup! That's how sports marketing works, folks.

ROI (Return on Investment) is measured a number of ways in the sports world. It's not just "how many products did I sell because I have this person endorsing me?" There is also a measure for brand association, brand loyalty, perceived quality, etc. And all of these things have value. These same companies that Jeanette endorses also spend millions of dollars in other forms of advertising as well. She is just one part of it.

 

[Johnnyt]

Oh good, I love proving people wrong

Let's start with these...Canadian Club, LG Electronics, Laser One, Interplay Virtual Pool 3, Stern Pinball, Escalade Sports and Mosconi Billiards among her corporate partners, and she also has deals with King.com, Excitations.com and Cloud9living.com, where users can purchase personal lessons from Jeanette.

She books numerous appearances, does public speaking, and has her own line of merchandise.

She's appeared in or on the following: ESPN Sports Center commercial, Today Show, HBO Real Sports, People, MTV, Rolling Stone, Esquire, ESPN, Maxim, Arli$$, Late Show with Craig Kilborn, Cigar Aficionado, Sports Illustrated, Entertainment Tonight, Extra!, Late Show with David Letterman, Hard Copy, One Life to Live, Regis and Kelly, Say What Karaoke.

She is repped by Octagon, one of the largest sports marketing firms in the world.

Enough, or should I look into it some more? The point is, that is doesn't matter if this doesn't add up in your internal calculator. It's a fact, not a rumor started by my buddies cousins anything.

I'm also sorry that you have never heard of the Sports Business Daily... but coming from someone who works in the biz, I can guarantee it's a reliable source.

I go along with this post and that she does make that kind of money. As far as the WPBA...she needs to be part of that, but not for the purses. Johnnyt

 

[John Barton]

Some of those numbers are redicilous,Iwould say about 200 for the top people,I don't care if ralph gets 500 a day for a lesson ,he don't give lessons every day.How about some of the pros that visit here post someof there opinions ,you don't hav to give exact numbers but a opinion is good.A good pool player is always broke,not to mention the backers cuts figured in.

A player in your position is probably going to stay close to broke because of the nature of the beast in gambling. Your nut doesn't go away win or lose and in order to keep a reputation as a gambler you must accept most games that come your way.

The top pros and trick shot artists who are good businesspeople manage their time well and get paid well for it.

Dave Pearson leads a very comfortable life based on his pool ability and he is in constant demand. Tom Rossman makes a good living as does Mike Massey.

I know one player that you can spot the rainbow to whose name is well known, goes two and out in every pro tournament he plays in and YET he manages to get booked for corporate exhibitions at decent change per day. Why? Because he has managed to get a position that allows him those opportunities and he presents a clean cut image with enough pool skills to impress people that can't two balls.

There are plenty of people who have built a solid life around their pool skills that don't have to gamble for their income. The skill is only the asset, how you invest it is up to you.

 

[Walt Frazier]

Walt Frazier without a doubt !

Factors of prize money earnings yearly, business related, sponsors, etc (e.g.Nick Varner owns a cue company and distribution biz) . Anything they've done that's pool related income.
When Mizerak was alive I think he made a hefty sum yearly.
Here are my picks, interested in seeing what others come up with in names and numbers.

(for fun i put imaginary numbers to what I think they may make
Johnny Archer 175k
Allen Hopkins 350k
Nick Varner 200k
Jeanette Lee 400k
Charlie Williams 700k
Allison Fisher 150k
Chin Shun Yang 250k
Efren Reyes 200k
Yu Ram Cha 250k
Thorsten Hohmann 125k
Ralf Souquet 100k
Niels Feijen 100k

* dont take the numbers to seriously, just guestimates by my own abstract formulas

How could you leave me out?

I made over $500.00 last year!!...Oh, wait..wait a minute..you said"richest pool players" huh?..darn it!!

I must have misunderstood you,I qualify for the "poorest pool player" list .

My mistake
Tony

 

[Patrick Johnson]

I dunno...some of these dudes make the cash!!!

it cost about 500 bones for one day with Ralph S for a lesson......
that aint too bad a gig if you ask me!

If he made that every working day of the year he'd only make $130,000.

pj
chgo

 

[Shawn Putnam]

Factors of prize money earnings yearly, business related, sponsors, etc (e.g.Nick Varner owns a cue company and distribution biz) . Anything they've done that's pool related income.
When Mizerak was alive I think he made a hefty sum yearly.
Here are my picks, interested in seeing what others come up with in names and numbers.

(for fun i put imaginary numbers to what I think they may make
Johnny Archer 175k
Allen Hopkins 350k
Nick Varner 200k
Jeanette Lee 400k
Charlie Williams 700k
Allison Fisher 150k
Chin Shun Yang 250k
Efren Reyes 200k
Yu Ram Cha 250k
Thorsten Hohmann 125k
Ralf Souquet 100k
Niels Feijen 100k

* dont take the numbers to seriously, just guestimates by my own abstract formulas

The richest player is the one that can remember the feeling of running his first rack of 9-ball ! IMO

 

[will8834]

She is also sponsored by escalade sports.

Escalade Sports has been manufacturing and distributing internationally known sporting goods brands for over 70 years. As the world's leading producer and distributor of pool tables, table tennis tables and game tables, we can confidently say that no matter what your game, our brands deliver Serious Play?.

 

[memikey]

The prince that was playing Django in the Mideast or Asia. He plays in some pro pool events and owns a nice little mideast country on the side.

Hu

Wonder who will be more surprised this morning.........the citizens of Brunei who have gone to sleep as usual alongside the waters of The South China Sea only to wake up and discover that their country has been moved about 4,000 kms to the West overnight.......or the arabs of The Middle East who will find an illegally parked Malaysian Kingdom blocking their garages

 

[John Barton]

If he made that every working day of the year he'd only make $130,000.

pj
chgo

Yes, but that 500 gets you about four hours of Ralf's time effectively meaning that gets $130,000 for half a year's work. Not bad coin. I think the majority of Americans could live quite well on "only" $130,000 a year.

I think the wealthiest tournament professional who is unquestionably a contender for every tournament he plays in is Efren Reyes. The man has all his expenses paid for, doesn't have to lift a finger to market himself, has endorsements, is honored and respected by his countrymen, and can follow his pleasure anytime he is not competing. He has a solid line of people willing to truly donate to him just for the experience of playing him.

I think he'd fit the definition of wealth in most people's books.

 

[bruin70]

jeanette is parlaying her name buy reyes has staying power. he will be who he is in the phillipines until the day he dies,,,he is set for life. jeanette's profile will not last.

btw,,,at one time, it may have been jennifer chen. besides her media/entertainment celebrity in taiwan, she was sponsored by some non-pool companies(i think a tech company was one). if there's ever a "stupidest" poll, i vote for her.

 

[JAM]

Yes, but that 500 gets you about four hours of Ralf's time effectively meaning that gets $130,000 for half a year's work. Not bad coin. I think the majority of Americans could live quite well on "only" $130,000 a year....

One aspect of a pool players income, which is often overlooked when throwing out these numbers -- and I know you know this, John -- is the associated expenses that go along with earning that hypothetical $130,000.

It's true that most could live quite comfortable on 130,000 clams, but a pool player has airline fares, lodging, entry fees, and a whole lot of miscellaneous expenses, et cetera. Living on the road and "out of a suitcase," as Alex Pagulayan terms it, isn't all that it's cracked up to be.

Just a little food for thought I throw in the mix.

JAM

 

[John Barton]

One aspect of a pool players income, which is often overlooked when throwing out these numbers -- and I know you know this, John -- is the associated expenses that go along with earning that hypothetical $130,000.

It's true that most could live quite comfortable on 130,000 clams, but a pool player has airline fares, lodging, entry fees, and a whole lot of miscellaneous expenses, et cetera. Living on the road and "out of a suitcase," as Alex Pagulayan terms it, isn't all that it's cracked up to be.

Just a little food for thought I throw in the mix.

JAM

I did not overlook it. I was responding to the speculation on what Ralf would earn IF he were able book $500 a day in lessons.

Of course I understand the cost/risk/earnings ratio that goes with being a touring professional. I have sponsored a few including Ralf.

Believe me - I understand the road as well having been around the world and down the highway peddling cue cases. Many times the truck was our room and the truck stop bathroom was our shower. I understand what it means to fade the nut on the road.

Luckily for me though I always had something to sell. As opposed to the players who had to win or starve.

John

 

[JustPlay]

They are getting plenty of ROI. Absolutely. It's called "brand association." I am reminded of a study done for Campbell's Soup. A group was polled, asked to look at a can of Campbell's Soup and give their rating of "perceived quality." The group rated the soup an average of 5.2 out of 10 for perceived quality. The same group was then given a can of Campbell's Soup with a picture of Donovan McNabb on it. The perceived quality rating rose 30% (HUGE in the world of marketing). It was the same freaking soup! That's how sports marketing works, folks.

ROI (Return on Investment) is measured a number of ways in the sports world. It's not just "how many products did I sell because I have this person endorsing me?" There is also a measure for brand association, brand loyalty, perceived quality, etc. And all of these things have value. These same companies that Jeanette endorses also spend millions of dollars in other forms of advertising as well. She is just one part of it.

I agree with everything you have stated. However the majority of products that JL endorses are pool related and advertised during reruns of Trick shot magic on ESPN (and everyone knows that the tv audience for pool is almost zero as opposed to McNabb advertising during a live football game). Its focused on the pool community. True JL is the most reconizable name in billiards, but those products and services really dont, for the most part cover such a wide range of consumers like campbell soup being endorse by a professional athlete. So what products that JL has endorsed have a great ROI by these companies? Interesting to get some information on that.

Most of these companies are small pool product companies or sub companies that have a new or exsisting product that need a boost in sales to bring up the bottom line and JL is a great choice to do so. The public outside of pool has no product reconition of most of the product JL endorses only pool players and thats if you look in a magazine or watching a commercial during a pool match on espn. Like I stated before, she definitly makes alot of green from endorsement, but 3,000,000- 5,000,000 from these products is definitly a stretch, especially when these products are lost cost retail items...

 

[lodini]

I agree with everything you have stated. However the majority of products that JL endorses are pool related and advertised during reruns of Trick shot magic on ESPN (and everyone knows that the tv audience for pool is almost zero as opposed to McNabb advertising during a live football game). Its focused on the pool community. True JL is the most reconizable name in billiards, but those products and services really dont, for the most part cover such a wide range of consumers like campbell soup being endorse by a professional athlete. So what products that JL has endorsed have a great ROI by these companies? Interesting to get some information on that.

Most of these companies are small pool product companies or sub companies that have a new or exsisting product that need a boost in sales to bring up the bottom line and JL is a great choice to do so. The public outside of pool has no product reconition of most of the product JL endorses only pool players and thats if you look in a magazine or watching a commercial during a pool match on espn. Like I stated before, she definitly makes alot of green from endorsement, but 3,000,000- 5,000,000 from these products is definitly a stretch, especially when these products are lost cost retail items...

Look, I don't know how else to explain this. But I'll give it a shot. Once someone becomes an endorser, he/she is used by the company in NUMEROUS ways that the general public doesn't see. For example, the quote I gave you all earlier about Gatorade hiring Jeanette for their hospitality suite at the Super Bowl. They didn't sell any Gatorade because she was there, but she surely entertained all the Gatorade big-wigs and their business-related guests! And that is just as important.

If a company like LG Electronics, which is one of hers, has Jeanette attend an event with a big distributor and does some fancy trick shots and schmoozes up the cheif decision maker... and that distributor chooses to do business with LG, then that deal is a direct result of the JL relationship. (in all probability, a large multi-million dollar deal) Poof!, instant ROI. (LG, by the way, is a $559 million dollar a year electronics giant, not your run-of-the-mill pool related product)

This is just one example, but so many things happen behind the scenes that the general consumer does not know about. And I can't believe that {some of} you guys just dismiss this stuff as "no, it definitely doesnt happen." It absolutely does.

 

[ShootingArts]

figured I'd get in trouble

Wonder who will be more surprised this morning.........the citizens of Brunei who have gone to sleep as usual alongside the waters of The South China Sea only to wake up and discover that their country has been moved about 4,000 kms to the West overnight.......or the arabs of The Middle East who will find an illegally parked Malaysian Kingdom blocking their garages

I figured I'd get in trouble with the country and location. I haven't taken any geography since grade school and most of the world's countries have changed names a time or three since then so it ain't one of my strong points. I couldn't remember the name of his country so that made things a little trickier too!

Hu

 

[JustPlay]

Look, I don't know how else to explain this. But I'll give it a shot. Once someone becomes an endorser, he/she is used by the company in NUMEROUS ways that the general public doesn't see. For example, the quote I gave you all earlier about Gatorade hiring Jeanette for their hospitality suite at the Super Bowl. They didn't sell any Gatorade because she was there, but she surely entertained all the Gatorade big-wigs and their business-related guests! And that is just as important.

If a company like LG Electronics, which is one of hers, has Jeanette attend an event with a big distributor and does some fancy trick shots and schmoozes up the cheif decision maker... and that distributor chooses to do business with LG, then that deal is a direct result of the JL relationship. (in all probability, a large multi-million dollar deal) Poof!, instant ROI. (LG, by the way, is a $559 million dollar a year electronics giant, not your run-of-the-mill pool related product)

This is just one example, but so many things happen behind the scenes that the general consumer does not know about. And I can't believe that {some of} you guys just dismiss this stuff as "no, it definitely doesnt happen." It absolutely does.

Again, I agree with what you are saying. Nobody is disagreeing with you or questioning your information. I think it is very informative. I, as well as many others fully understand what you are saying. In your first discussion you compared Donovan McNabb to Jeanette Lee. Excellent example. But who do you think commands more money in endorsements McNabb or Lee? Who makes more money between the two? Who reaches a wider audience in the public? I am just stating my opionion that JL's endosements from these companies (as mentioned earlier in this thread someone stated that JL makes $3,000,000 to 5,000,000 in endorsements a year a big stretch for such a small market. As a whole I would think she makes high six figures to a million from these companies. Hey, thats great. She deserves every bit of it. Just a opinion, not an attach on anyone.